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Council Bin Trucks to Run on Italian Cooking Oil
Bin lorries are set to run on Italian vegetable oil instead of diesel.
Cherwell District Council has decided to switch its fleet to biofuel in order to cut carbon dioxide emissions by between 600 and 700 tonnes a year. The council said it would use sustainable sources, with the bulk of its supply coming from used cooking oil from Italy. Although the fuel costs around 10% more than diesel, it is far more environmentally friendly, and the councillor behind the plans said the move had allowed the authority to "significantly cut its carbon footprint in one go."
Green Party councillor Ian Middleton, who is responsible for neighbourhood services, said the ideal solution would have been to switch to electric vehicles, but current technology is not yet capable of handling the tasks required of bin lorries. He added: "There isn't really another practical option for our big, heavy vehicles, which leaves us with two choices: either keep burning emissions-heavy fossil fuel that's damaging to the climate, or switch to a more sustainable alternative in the short term. While this isn't a perfect solution, we shouldn't let the perfect be the enemy of the good."
Hydrotreated vegetable oil (HVO) is not currently produced in the UK, so the local authority will have to import it. Councillor Middleton said the carbon impact of shipping the fuel from Europe is far lower than that of diesel, which typically comes from the Middle East. At the meeting held to approve the switch to the new fuel, one councillor asked whether there might be any "aromatic effects." Councillor Middleton replied: "Not that I'm aware of, no. I don't think our trucks are going to be driving around smelling of fish and chips."
Source: The Star