Cementation, the UK piling division of Swedish contractor Skanska, will use only hydrotreated vegetable oil (HVO) from 1st January 2022, it announced today.
Skanska has already committed to HVO on its own construction sites.
Cementation’s move follows a trial of using Green D+ HVO on a Liebherr LB36 piling rig with a 390kW engine, the largest engine to ever trial the use of HVO, it said.
Green D+, supplied by Green Biofuels Ltd, it is certified under the International Sustainability and Carbon Certification Scheme and generated from waste or secondary renewable sources.
The trial, carried out in collaboration with HS2 and the Skanska Costain Strabag JV, collected data with the engine running on diesel and then the engine running on HVO fuel alone. The data, verified by Brighton University, revealed that CO was reduced by 57%, NOx was reduced by 38% and particulate matter reduced by 36% during the normal operations.
Cementation Skanska managing director Terry Muckian said: “The use of HVO on a piling rig of this size had not been tried in the UK before due to concerns over potential damage to the engine. Following this successful trial, we can confidently take this next step forward and demonstrate our credentials in green leadership to significantly reduce emissions associated with our plant. This move comes after Skanska mandated the use of HVO fuel to power all site plant and equipment and to act on our pledge to become net-zero carbon by 2045.”
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