Fuelling green success for Lovell

17 January 2022

Details of how the national house builder Lovell has successfully introduced HVO as an eco-friendly alternative to diesel fuel for plant and machinery was given in a recent webinar organised by the Supply Chain Sustainability School. 

Lovell aims to be carbon net zero by 2030 and most of its greenhouse gas emissions come from fuel used on-site, typically driving telehandlers and generators. 

Adopting HVO was seen as a solution since it can reduce the emissions of CO2, nitrous oxide (NOx) and particulate matter (PM) by up to 90% compared against diesel. 

HVO also has several operational and efficiency benefits, as described in another recent Site-Eco blog post. 

Gemma Tovey, sustainability lead at Lovell, explained how in March 2021 the company had started a trial with Speedy as its distribution partner to use HVO in place of red diesel at sites across the house builder’s eight regions. 

The trial’s success has led to the fuel now being used as standard. As a result, Lovell reduced carbon emissions by an equivalent of 700 tonnes of CO2e last year. 

Rob Worboys, Lovell’s head of procurement and sustainability, said that a number of issues had arisen during the initial stages. Some operatives thought that new equipment designed to run on HVO would be delivered, whereas it is a direct drop-in diesel replacement. Others didn’t realise the fuels could be mixed. 

Rob suggested that holding instructional on-site toolbox talks could help address such issues. 

He also said that, as there could be some HVO supply issues in some regions given growing demand, it was sensible to have larger fuel storage tanks on site – and to protect these with secure locks and CCTV since theft was likely to rise following the end of the red diesel rebate this coming April. 

● Picture shows a Lovell development in Wetherby. 

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