Gasrec of UK Adds Kuehne + Nagel to Its Client List

Leading UK bio-fuel supplier Gasrec has added another global company to its lengthening client list – this time to support global logistics giant Kuehne + Nagel’s emission-reduction contract with Whitbread, the UK’s largest hospitality business.

Gasrec is providing its state-of-the-art refuelling facility at Daventry for Kuehne + Nagel’s dedicated fleet of five dual-fuel-converted Mercedes Actros trucks. The vehicles are running on Gasrec’s Bio-LNG product, which simultaneously cuts emissions and costs.

Bio-LNG is a future-proof blend of liquefied natural gas (LNG) and liquid biomethane (LBM) – a natural, sustainable source of renewable energy produced from organic matter such as household food waste and sewage.

The vehicles will be operated by Kuehne + Nagel on behalf of Whitbread along the M1 between Northampton and Wakefield. The transport and logistics company is considering extending the contract to deploy a further 14 vehicles later in the year.

Bio-LNG can cut particulate matter emissions by up to 90 per cent – NOx by 90 per cent and SOx by 60 per cent. It can also cut HGV fuel bills by up to 20 per cent compared to pure diesel equivalents.

Kuehne + Nagel joins leading corporates already driving down their emissions by taking advantage of Gasrec’s offering – including household names such as Tesco, B&Q, DHL, Stobart Group, Waitrose and Laing O’Rourke.

Kuehne + Nagel’s environment manager, Martin Johnson, said: “We welcome the opportunity to work with the bio-LNG experts at Gasrec to help reduce our emissions even further and to play our part in shrinking the UK’s carbon footprint.

“We achieved a 64 per cent substitution of gas from diesel, a pay-back period that’s estimated at less than two years and a 16 per cent carbon reduction. Those figures, combined with Gasrec’s growing refuelling network, promise a fruitful partnership.”

The global logistics expert is coming on board as Gasrec is developing the UK’s first network of open-access Bio-LNG refuelling stations, set for completion in 2015. In May this year, it opened the first of eight planned facilities near Daventry International Rail Freight Terminal (DIRFT).

The network promises ease of access for refuelling: each of the proposed locations is near motorway junctions, ensuring that 85 per cent of the UK’s HGV population is within four hours’ drive of a station.

Gasrec’s chief executive, Rob Wood, said: “Working with such big name experts as Kuehne + Nagel demonstrates the faith being put in our product, service and significant capacity as a business asset to cut emissions and fuel costs.

“This deal shows how the supply chain can pass down those major advantages from haulage companies to their clients. As our network expands further we’re confident more and more businesses will see the rewards – benefiting the environment and their balance sheets.”

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LNG World News Staff, October 21, 2013; Image: Gasrec