Foresight Group has pledged £80m in funding to help CNG Fuels develop a network of new zero carbon fuelling stations for the nation’s HGVs. The plan would quadruple the company’s capacity, enabling it to refuel 8,000 vehicles per day. CNG Fuels opened its fifth location last week and the funding would enable the development of a further 14 public access stations on major routes over the next two years.
The company stated that Bio-CNG (compressed natural gas) is the lowest carbon, most cost-effective alternative to diesel for HGVs. It currently costs 35-40% less than diesel and cuts vehicle greenhouse gas emissions by 85%. It is renewable and sustainable biomethane, approved under the Department for Transport’s Renewable Transport Fuel Obligation (RTFO) and is delivered to stations via the existing gas grid before being compressed into fuel.
CNG Fuels chief financial officer, Baden Gowrie-Smith, said, “We expect the number of CNG trucks on UK roads to double in 2021 as fleet operators take action to support the government’s Net Zero targets. This exciting partnership with Foresight demonstrates their enthusiasm for biomethane as a solution to decarbonise heavy transport at scale, and the near-term development of more stations will enable us to serve our customers even better by delivering carbon neutral Bio-CNG nationwide. We hope this will give even more brands the confidence to switch from diesel.”
