Beer maker Asahi UK has this week rolled out its first fully electric beer truck to provide zero emission deliveries of its Fuller’s ales, Meantime craft beer, Cornish Orchards cider, Asahi Super Dry, and Peroni Nastro Azzurro to pubs across London.
Based out of the Griffin Brewery in Chiswick, West London, the electric ‘dray’ will replace diesel powered deliveries and help avoid more than 25,000 polluting road miles a year as part of a trial agreed with a number of London Councils.
Launched to coincide with Cask Ale Week, the 18-tonne Volvo truck’s first journey will deliver Fuller’s London Pride cask beer to the Churchill Arms pub in Kensington.
In its first year it is estimated the vehicle will reduce carbon emissions by approximately 30 tonnes of CO2. This will increase in the second year as Asahi UK transition to fully renewable electricity across its business from January 2025.
“At Asahi we are committed to achieving net zero across our whole value chain by 2040, in line with UN targets,” said Tim Clay, managing director of Asahi UK – which acquired Fuller’s in 2019. “Every step we take towards these goals is significant, and renewably powered vehicles will be a key element of this.
“Being a part of London’s community since 1845 – brewing from the Griffin Brewery in Chiswick – we are proud to be championing the move to electric dray deliveries in London, contributing to quieter, cleaner streets for everyone.”
In related news, supermarket Aldi has today announced it is converting more than 30 per cent of its fleet of heavy goods vehicles (HGVs) to operate on hydrotreated vegetable oil (HVO) fuels.
The move will involve more than 160 HGVs based at its Cardiff, Swindon, and Neston distribution centres and is expected to reduce the supermarket’s carbon footprint by approximately 15,400 tonnes of CO2e per year.
If implemented across Aldi’s entire fleet of more than 550 vehicles, the change could eliminate an additional 55,100 tonnes of CO2e a year, the retailer claimed.
“Switching to HVO fuels on our lorry fleet aligns with our long-term sustainability goals and reflects our commitment to reducing our carbon emissions,” said Liz Fox, national sustainability director at Aldi.
“We are always looking for ways to continue our efforts to drive positive change across the business and this move in particular is a significant milestone for Aldi.”
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