Crown Oil Receives UK and Ireland Fuel Distributors Association’s 2021 Green Award

by Ron Kotrba (Biobased Diesel Daily) Crown Oil Ltd., a fuel and renewable diesel distributor based in Bury, England, in the Greater Manchester area, has won the U.K. and Ireland Fuel Distributors Association Green Award for 2021 sponsored by Oilshield, a collaboration between European Insurance Services, Compass Environmental Consultancy and Aviva plc. The honor was announced during the inaugural virtual UKIFDA Expo & Future Fuels Conference in July, during which Janet Kettlewell, president of UKIFDA, cited Crown Oil’s involvement in renewable diesel fuel trials and its initiative decarbonizing home heating. READ MORE

Excerpt from Biobased Diesel Daily: “HVO … is an advanced renewable diesel fuel that provides a fast and simple step towards net zero rather than the leap needed for electrification,” the company stated. “The paraffinic diesel fuel delivers up to a 90 percent reduction in net CO2 emissions ‘from well-to-wheel’ compared to conventional diesel, as well as up to a 27 percent reduction in nitrogen oxide and up to 84 percent reduction in particulate matter—all key components towards improving air quality.”

Crown Oil highlights the U.K. government’s lack of acknowledgement of or support for low-carbon biofuels such as HVO.

“We are proud to be helping pioneer change as the U.K.’s net-zero target approaches, with industry poised for this move for some time,” the company stated. “However, this cost-effective, practical solution appears to have been lost on the U.K. government. Other European states such as Sweden recognize that climate and air quality improvement cannot rely on a ‘one-size-fits-all’ policy. They have instead adopted a multipoint strategy which includes the use of renewable fuels in addition to the development of the [electric vehicle (EV)] market. Their government passed a bill in 2017 which permitted biofuels to be subject to tax exemption. This led to a 124 percent increase in HVO sales in October 2017 compared with October 2016, with green diesel alternatives taking up 28 percent of the market, of which 83 percent was HVO fuel.”

“Crown HVO is the most viable option currently available to businesses and commercial fleet owners who want to implement greener commitments within operations right away without the high costs and additional infrastructure needed for electrification. With the loss of red diesel duty relief set to come into place for many sectors from April 1, 2022, we hope that the government looks to introduce duty relief on low-emission fuels such as HVO to help further encourage uptake.”

By switching its delivery fleet to HVO, Crown Oil expects to cut CO2 by more than 3,000 metric tons a year, which is equivalent to the average annual carbon footprint of more than 242 U.K. residents, the weight of 77 elephants, or driving around the world 81 times. READ MORE