‘Diesel will be a thing of the past in 10 years’ – haulier

As the final touches are being put on the budget, one thing that’s quite clear is the government’s targeting of carbon as the new high tax bad boy on the block, writes Thomas Lyons.

The increased levies are sure to hit some businesses more than others, with transport and logistics companies set to be one of the industries to bear the brunt.

With this in mind, Virginia International Logistics has become the first haulier in Ireland to complete a zero-carbon heavy goods vehicle (HGV) delivery to Europe.
Ray Cole oversaw the project where a truck fuelled by renewable gas travelled over 1,000km on a round-trip, carrying processed beef from Liffey Meats in Ballyjamesduff to Caen in northern France.
“We have seven trucks running on compressed natural gas (CNG). The truck that went to Caen in France ran on 100% green gas, which is totally carbon free,” Ray told The Anglo- Celt.
Virginia International Logistics has been focussed on reducing the emissions from their fleet since 2012. That year, they invested in dual fuel vehicles and, last year, they made the switch to compressed natural gas. By December of this year, the company is aiming to have 30 low carbon CNG trucks on their fleet. All of these trucks can run on renewable gas.
“Before this the technology was not there. We were using dual fuel, which is diesel and gas, now it is 100% CNG trucks,” Ray explained.
The fuelling process was the major consideration on the journey: “We have a refuelling station in our Dublin depot. There is another in Dublin port. That’s pretty much it for Ireland. At present our infrastructure is quite poor.”

Time for change

Ireland’s commercial transport fleet makes up just three per cent of vehicles on the road but is responsible for a fifth of the transport sector’s carbon emissions. The Virginia International Logistics director says that it’s time to make a change: “There’s an alternative to diesel, but the government don’t seem to be supporting it at the moment. In the UK and France there are many CNG stations.”
The expansion of the Virginia Transport fleet and the installation of the re-fuelling technology is supported by Gas Networks Ireland, which is developing a network of 150 CNG stations in Ireland. The first public CNG fuelling station in Circle K Dublin Port opened earlier this year. A further six public stations are in planning and development.
The vision of a fleet powered entirely by gas may not be that far off: “You could be looking at it five years down the line, that is our goal. Diesel is going to be a thing of the past in 10 years.”
That long-term planning is essential to avoid being a victim of a changing economy: “The capital investment is big. To establish a fully operational gas station costs around €1M. We are getting help from Gas Networks Ireland and our gas suppliers to get it up and running.”
Ray says that Cavan has tremendous potential in the production of bio-methane: “We are not utilising the potential that we have. It’s just crying out for a someone to take the lead on it. The government are too focused on putting on carbon tax, rather than supporting an alternative.”