Ditching fossil fuels: 4Group’s road fleet switches to biodiesel made from 100% renewable sources
Everyone’s got an opinion about climate change. Some propose solutions. And a handful of people are actually doing something about it.
With a decade of fossil fuel consumption behind us, 4Group recently made a promise to become a carbon balanced company by 2022.
Since then we’ve begun investing in eco-friendly machinery, championing electric vehicle use and now, with the help of Rubis Fuels, we’ve begun running our entire road fleet on a biodiesel made from 100% renewable sources. It’s called RD100.
WHAT IS RD100?
RD100 is clear and odourless. It’s refined from 100% renewable sources such as vegetable oils from rapeseed, sunflower and soybean, and waste fats such as animal fats or used cooking oil.
Before making this change, we really had a lot of homework to do. It is vital that we investigate our supply chain to fully understand the consequences of our actions.
RD100 does currently contain up to 20% palm oil – but only from correctly certified, sustainable plantations – but, importantly, this is being phased out during this coming year.
WHY ARE WE RUNNING RD100?
We see three major benefits of running RD100 in our vehicles:
- Reduce carbon emissions
- Reduce carbon extraction from the ground
- Improve Jersey’s air quality
HOW DOES RD100 PERFORM?
Since running our road fleet on RD100 we’ve noticed an improvement in the engine performance, especially when the engines are cold. There’s also a reduction in smoke and particulate emissions.
WHAT MODIFICATIONS DID WE HAVE TO MAKE TO RUN RD100?
None whatsoever! That’s what made RD100 so attractive in the first place.
We haven’t modified any of our diesel vehicles in order to run RD100. We just fill up as normal and get on with the job.
DOES RD100 COST MORE THAN REGULAR DIESEL?
Yes it does. Currently RD100 attracts the same import duty as regular fuel which pushes the price up. We are working with the States of Jersey to bring about price parity, this way the phasing out of fossil fuels can be sped up.
Thanks to Rubis, we’ve managed to secure a plentiful supply of RD100 to make sure we can continue running it without relying on regular diesel.
We hope other Jersey businesses with diesel fleets will recognise that the benefits of using RD100 far outweigh the additional costs, and jump on board too.
HOW CAN YOU RUN RD100?
RD100 is currently available to Rubis’ commercial customers. You must have your own tank, but that’s about all you’ll need to start reducing your carbon emissions immediately.
For more information about RD100, visit Rubis’ website here.