A ‘catalyst’ fuel station in Lancashire, which uses gas made from food waste to power HGVs, has been shortlisted for a national environment award.
 
The compressed natural gas (CNG) refuelling facility in Leyland, a partnership between Lancashire’s gas network Cadent and CNG Fuels, has been named as a finalist in the environment category in the Utility Week Awards 2017.
 
A report into the station’s first operational year, published in July, showed lorries using the station emitted up to 84 per cent less carbon dioxide than diesel HGVs, as well as less of other gases known to pollute air.

Although there are other CNG stations in the UK, this is the first connected to the high pressure pipeline.  This means less energy is needed to compress the gas for use as fuel, reducing users’ impact on the environment.
 
David Parkin, director of strategy at Cadent, said: “This is fantastic news. We’re convinced this project proves that gas, ideally taken from high-pressure pipes, should be the fuel of choice for HGVs and buses in the future. We hope Leyland will be a catalyst for a nationwide network of similar stations.
 
“A switch from diesel to market-ready gas can have a significant impact on UK Government’s commitment to reduce emissions by 80 per cent by 2050 and will support the drive for cleaner air in our towns and cities.”

Watch our short film about this station

The station, just off junction 28 of the M6, dispenses gas certified as 100 per cent renewable, as CNG Fuels pays for the equivalent amount of gas to be produced through a process which recycles food waste into biomethane. Its anchor customer is Waitrose, whose fleet of dedicated CNG lorries travel up to 500 miles on a full tank, across the Midlands and northern England.
 
Winners in the Utility Week Awards 2017 will be announced at a ceremony in London on 11 December.
 
Cadent is also nominated in two other categories. With its partner tRIIO (Morrison Utility Services & Skanska) it is shortlisted in the Capital Project Management Award category, for its work on the London medium pressure gas mains replacement scheme. The third nomination is for Health and Safety Initiative of the Year, for a carbon monoxide awareness campaign targeted at primary school age children, which Cadent helps to co-ordinate jointly with the UK’s other gas distribution networks and the charity CO-Gas Safety.