United Utilities plans to add electrified heavy goods vehicles (HGVs) to its fleet following a pilot that used sludge to generate energy.
Bioresources and green energy director at UU, Tom Lissett, said using electric HGVs was an important step towards net zero targets as he described the potential of sludge as “black gold”.
“Using the vehicles to collect the sludge and then using the clean energy it generates to charge their batteries is a great way of maximising the potential of that resource,” Lissett said. “We’ve recently trialled one electric HGV so we know it is a good solution for us.”
Biogas generated during the anaerobic digestion process is converted into renewable energy via a combined heat and power unit to be used to power the HGV charging points.
Government is dedicating £200 million to rollout zero emission trucks and infrastructure through the Freight Innovation Fund. Jesse Norman, minster for decarbonisation and technology, said electrifying freight vehicles an important milestone on the road to net zero.
The project is part of Electric Freightway, a group comprising of 33 UK companies working to develop a framework for an electric charging network for HGVs as efforts to accelerate the transition to battery powered HGVs.
The vehicles are expected to be introduced in spring 2024 with best practice to be shared with other companies to support the UK’s transition to an electrified vehicle network.
The water sector has committed to reach net zero in the coming decades with more ambitious goals than UK government targets.
Electrifying larger vehicle fleets, together with process emissions from wastewater treatment works, were highlighted as challenging elements in the Water UK roadmap to net zero published two years ago.
At the start of this month, UU published its business plan for 2025-30, which proposed £196 million net zero enhancement programme to deliver immediate reductions in AMP8 and as building blocks for work to be completed in AMP9 and 10.
Between 2010 and 2020 the company drove emissions down 70%. By 2030, the company will reduce scope 1 and 2 emissions by 42% and scope 3 emissions by a quarter.