Drax Group, a leading UK producer of ‘renewable energy’, is switching to ‘100% renewable fuel’ as part of its ongoing programme to reduce its carbon footprint. This development will see all the trains that the rail freight company
DB Cargo UK operates for Drax Group in and out of its energy plant near Selby powered by ‘environment-friendly’ hydro-treated vegetable oil (HVO). DB Cargo UK, currently transports around 4.5 million tonnes of biomass pellets to Drax Power Station each year, operating around 60 trains a week. It is estimated that by switching from traditional red diesel to HVO will reduce rail freight carbon emissions by up to 90%, saving over 12,000 tonnes of carbon each year. The DB Cargo trains powered on HVO will provide around 57% of Drax’s total biomass.
HVO is synthetically made through the hydro-treatment process from vegetable oils or animal fats which significantly reduces harmful carbon dioxide (CO
2) and nitrogen oxide (NO
x) emissions when used in diesel vehicles and machinery. It is derived from 100% waste products and no virgin products are used in its manufacture.
Roger Neary, DB Cargo UK’s chief sales officer, said: “The Government had set the rail industry a stretching target to achieve net zero carbon emissions by 2050 and remove all diesel-only traction by 2040, so the use of HVO in our trains will go a long way to helping us meet that challenge. At the same time, it will help Drax meet its own sustainability targets and minimise its impact on the environment.”
He concluded: “Until a firm commitment is made to electrification of the UK network, HVO is the only credible solution to rail freight decarbonisation. More services could be operated with HVO if the right policies and incentives were in place to enable more customers to make the switch.”