A UK company, Sandtoft, has taken the radical step of installing 100 percent biodiesel pumps and storage tanks at its Doncaster HQ. The move represents the first benchmark in ambitious plans to convert all of the company’s fleet vehicles to 100 percent biodiesel within three years.

Simon Oldridge, Sandtoft’s managing director commented: “Through our research we have found that converting to 100 percent biodiesel is a great way to achieve reductions in CO2, but we have been very frustrated at the obstacles we have found whilst pursuing the idea of converting our fleet. One of the key issues was finding somewhere local to refuel, so the obvious step was to install pumps at our own offices.” 

The Sandtoft pumps dispense 100 percent Rapeseed Methyl Ester (RME) biodiesel, which is produced to EN14214 quality standards and derives from oilseed rape. Although a 5 percent biodiesel mix is more common in the UK, Sandtoft was dissatisfied with the reduction in carbon emissions this offered and began looking into 100 percent biodiesel as a viable option. Compared with conventional diesel, 100 percent biodiesel can reduce greenhouse-gas emissions by up to 90 percent*; meaning Simon Oldridge’s car alone will save 6,900Kg of CO2** being released into the atmosphere each year.

Simon Oldridge, continued: “As with a number of our green policies, the switch has required a financial investment, spending more on our fuel per litre; but we believe the benefits of the move far outweigh any financial cost.

“In our view, businesses in the UK have a responsibility to generate a demand for biodiesel in order to catalyse this progression, and the government also has a responsibility to provide financial incentives for switching to biodiesel. At 28p, duty on biodiesel is 20p less than the 48p on regular diesel, but this still leaves biodiesel too expensive for most people to consider making the transition. We strongly urge government to eliminate duty on biodiesel in order to kick-start the market.  Once the market is established and scale economies kick in, duty can be ratcheted back up.” He added.

According to the Energy Saving Trust, the transportation of construction materials accounts for around 5 percent of the UK’s total energy burden, and Sandtoft is looking to motivate suppliers to switch to biodiesel by establishing an incentive programme for its transportation sub-contractors. Suppliers using biodiesel vehicles will be given priority over other sub-contractors when competing for work, and further financial incentives will be introduced in 2008.

Sandtoft already has four of its own vehicles running on biodiesel, all of which are manufactured by Audi; and the rest of the company’s fifty vehicles will be gradually replaced with biodiesel-compatible alternatives by December 2009. Although Audi has now fully approved the use of 100 percent biodiesel with certain models for Sandtoft, it did require communication with the manufacturer’s HQ in Germany to gain clearance.

Simon Oldridge explained: “Audi cars can be warranted to run on biodiesel in Germany, where the fuel is far more commonplace, yet Audi initially seemed unwilling to clear the use of biodiesel for the same vehicles in the UK. It was another example of the resistance we met when pursuing this idea, but it was again overcome through research and commitment.”

“Essentially,” he continued, “the switch to biodiesel has gone very smoothly, but it has taken a surprising amount of persistence from our side of things to get where we are today. When the environmental benefits are so clear, that really shouldn’t be the case. Combined with our recent switch to 100 percent renewable electricity, we have now made two of the most effective changes a business can make to reduce its carbon emissions through energy use – but we don’t intend to stop there.”

* European Biodiesel Board: http://www.ebb-eu.org/biodiesel.php
** Figure calculated using conversion rates supplied by ‘Take Global Warming Seriously’ http://www.tgws.org.uk/