As part of its strategy to reach net zero by 2040, Royal Mail is rolling out hydrotreated vegetable oil (HVO) to power its HGV fleet across the UK and has just hit its first milestone of 10 million liters used. This means it has saved more than 30,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2e) since June 2023. The company aims to save a further 44,000 metric tons of CO2e over the next year.
HVO is now being used at six of Royal Mail’s largest sites, including parcel hubs in Daventry and Warrington and key sites in the East Midlands, Manchester, Sheffield and Warrington. The company aims to deploy 27 million liters of HVO annually across its network by this time next year.
Zebrina Hanly, Royal Mail’s head of environment, said, “It’s of critical importance to our customers that we do everything we can to reduce our emissions as soon as possible. Electric and hydrogen options for HGVs are still in their infancy, so while the technology and infrastructure are developing, our strategy is to keep emissions to a minimum by using HVO as a transitional fuel.”
Green operations
Royal Mail’s Steps to Zero environment strategy set a goal of achieving net zero by 2040, with a 50% reduction in Scope 1 and 2 emissions by 2030. The company already has the lowest emissions per parcel of any courier, at 218gCO2e, and aims to maintain this position in the long term.
Royal Mail has also introduced 5,000 electric vans as part of the decarbonization of its fleet.