Gatwick Airport has switched its fleet of diesel vehicles to run on hydrotreated vegetable oil (HVO), in a move it says will save 950 tonnes of carbon emissions a year.
London Airport had around 300 vehicles, including diesel-powered fire trucks, air operations vehicles and snow plows.
These represent around 85 per cent of Gatwick's fleet, and all of them will now be powered by HVO until they are retired and replaced by electric vehicles.
The airport said the move would reduce emissions from its Scope 1 vehicles (those produced/controlled directly by a company) by 90 percent.
Gatwick highlighted that “extensive testing concluded that HVO had no impact on vehicle performance, meaning fire trucks still have the ability to respond to calls anywhere on the airfield within three minutes.”
The measure is part of the airport's commitment to be net zero for Scope 1 and 2 (the latter being emissions produced indirectly when the company purchases energy) by 2030.
To this end, Gatwick is investing more than £250 million to replace all vehicles, gas boilers and coolants with low-carbon alternatives, as well as investing in on-site renewable energy, including solar power.
The airport said it is also working with airlines and industry partners to address Scope 3 emissions (i.e. those further down the supply chain), “through a series of measures including modernization of airspace and innovations in SAF, electric, hydrogen and hybrid aircraft.”
Commenting on the news, Steve Kelso, head of engineering at London Gatwick, said:
“The deployment of hydrotreated vegetable oil to power our 300 diesel vehicles is an exciting milestone in London Gatwick’s sustainability journey and a big step in our fleet transition. It is vital that we invest in sustainably sourced HVO to reduce emissions in all areas as soon as possible on our journey to reach net zero emissions for our own Scope 1 and 2 emissions by 2030.
“From buses picking up passengers at long-stay car parks to operations vehicles patrolling the airfield, HVO is now used to fuel vehicles across the airport. “As we continue to grow, we make sustainability part of everything we do here at London Gatwick and we are committed to finding solutions and working differently to meet our ambitious goals.”
Last month, Gatwick opened a dedicated electric vehicle (EV) charging station, located on the ring road near the South Terminal.
The GRIDSERVE facility has 30 high and low power electric vehicle chargers, available 24 hours a day for contactless payment.
Electric vehicle charging station opened at Gatwick
airportgatwick.com
