Iveco has selected Gasrec as its preferred supplier of liquid biomethane (LBM), from landfill, for its natural gas powered range of Daily light commercial vehicles following a successful six month trial in London.

The trial saw a Daily 65C14G cage tipper being used for recycling and street cleansing operations on behalf of Camden Council, during which time it operated exclusively on LBM.  This highlighted LBM’s suitability as a high quality fuel for natural gas powered vehicles – against a backdrop of experiences which have shown that mains-supplied gas in the UK is likely to contain moisture and can therefore affect overall vehicle performance.

Commenting on the results, Martin Flach, Product Director at Iveco says: "The trial demonstrated a 62 per cent saving in CO² over diesel and highlighted the suitability of LBM as a high quality fuel.

"The market for gas vehicles on the continent is many times that of the UK, but this is largely due in this country to the poor infrastructure and quality of gas from the Victorian mains that has high moisture content and has historically resulted in reliability issues when used in commercial vehicles.

"Following the success of this trial we are in discussions with several key operators to evaluate the potential of this gas powered Daily running on LBM," he adds.

Richard Lilleystone, Chief Executive Officer at Gasrec, explains: "The gas we use to make the LBM for this vehicle comes from a landfill site in Albury, Surrey, which means it is not depleting fossil resources.  Through creating and selling this fuel product, we recover the latent energy stored in material discarded by society, providing power which is particularly suited to vehicles operating in the urban environment. We are particularly pleased with the improvements achieved in air quality when using LBM to displace diesel.  Every Local Authority in the UK would welcome reductions of 90 per cent particulate matter, 60 per cent reduction in nitrous oxide, 50 per cent reduction in sulphur dioxide and even a noise reduction of around 30 per cent."

"It offers fleet operators a serious and renewable alternative for applications where vehicles operate on a regular back-to-base cycle, such as local authorities and distribution companies," he added