North Ayrshire Council vehicles are now running on vegetable oil

North Ayrshire Council has switched 36 refuse collection vehicles from diesel fuel to Hydrotreated Vegetable Oil (HVO).

HVO, otherwise known as ‘renewable diesel’, is produced from waste cooking oil, animal fat and forestry materials that are saturated with hydrogen at a high temperature and pressure in a process known as hydrotreatment.

It can be used in vehicles or equipment designed for standard diesel, without any changes to the engine or infrastructure, and can reduce CO2 emissions by up to 90 per cent.

Over a 12-month period, there is potential for the council to save around 2,529 tonnes of carbon emissions from being created.

The initiative aligns with the Scottish Government’s sustainability ambitions, including phasing out the need for any new petrol or diesel vehicles in public sector fleets by 2030 and ending the sale of diesel HGVs for vehicles between 3.5 and 26 tonnes by 2035.

The Council's vision is to achieve net-zero emissions by 2030 and to halt biodiversity loss - and be Nature Positive - by 2030.

Darren Holloway, Commercial Director for Energy Solutions at Certas Energy, which supplies the HVO to the Council, said:

“We are thrilled to be fuelling the transition to net zero for North Ayrshire Council, who are one of a growing number of public sector organisations switching to HVO.

“Demand for HVO is growing year-on-year across the UK as more organisations are understanding the sustainability benefits of switching to this fuel.

“We anticipate this trend to continue for the next decade, and the public sector will be a key driver for this.”