Howard Tenens, one of the UK’s largest privately owned logistics companies is driving forward the future of low carbon freight transportation with a trial of the UK’s first 26 tonne rigid dedicated gas truck.

Howard Tenens bid for funding for the trial as part of a consortium led by Air Liquide involving eight other project partners. The consortium has recently been awarded the largest share of a £20 million grant from the Department of Transport (DfT) which will be administered by Innovate UK.

The grant funding will enable Howard Tenens to part fund the purchase of two new 26 tonne rigid trucks that will run entirely on Biomethane. The trucks will operate out of Howard Tenens Swindon depot and be used on a number of important contracts such as Toolstation, Honda and Cotswolds Outdoors.

Howard Tenens have a long history of operating gas vehicles, having previously benefited from Innovate UK funding in 2012 which enabled Howard Tenens to purchase 36 dual fuel vehicles. Dual fuel trucks operate on a mixture of gas and diesel, whereas the new trucks will run entirely on biomethane gas, so will deliver much greater environmental benefits. Ben Morris – Executive Director at Howard Tenens commented: “Adding these new trucks to the Howard Tenens fleet seemed like a natural development in our ongoing journey to use gas vehicles. These new vehicles will reduce carbon emissions by around 70% compared to a normal diesel engine and is the most viable option available to us for reducing our carbon footprint.”

Howard Tenens have overcome the availability issue associated with gas by investing heavily in a gas refuelling station at their depot in Swindon, where the two new trucks will be based. Howard Tenens have also partnered with a local company, Advanced Plasma Power also based in Swindon who will supply the logistics group with sustainably produced Biomethane for the trial.

Advanced Plasma Power will produce the Biomethane from their ground breaking plasma gasification plant, turning household rubbish into the gas needed to fuel the two vehicles. Not only does this process reduce the amount of waste that is sent to landfill in the local community, but it also generates a clean and sustainable fuel.

Rolf Stein – CEO of Advanced Plasma Power, commented: “The Biomethane project set out with a goal to provide sustainable and low cost solutions to the challenges of decarbonising heating and transport. Working with Howard Tenens gives us great visibility of how our technology can be applied to real world situations within the supply chain industry, with the added benefit of being associated with a company that has sustainability at the forefront of their business.”

Anna Rickard – Environmental Consultant at Tenens stated: “We are delighted to be part of the consortium led by Air Liquide and are looking forward to the new trucks joining our fleet later this year. We will be monitoring the vehicles closely throughout the trial and provided their performance meets operational and environmental targets our aspiration would be to roll this technology out wider across the fleet.”

HOWARD TENENS

Tel: 08702 415640

www.tenens.com

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