World’s largest biomethane lorry refuelling station to put Avonmouth on map

The world’s largest biomethane lorry refuelling station is opening in Avonmouth, slashing 70,000 tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions per year.

CNG Fuels said the site, near the M4/M5 junction just outside of the city, will meet growing demand from major brands to cut emissions while supporting the decarbonisation of the UK’s road haulage sector.

The new station is capable of refuelling 80 HGVs an hour from 14 high-speed dispensers and is closely situated to existing customers such as Royal Mail, Warburtons and the Amazon warehouse.

Lidl supermarket, which is soon to open a store at Broadmead, is the latest business to convert its fleets to renewable biomethane.

CNG say demand for biomethane, a 100% renewable natural gas sourced from food waste, has spiked by 1,000% over the past five years which is predicted to increase five-fold as the UK’s 2040 ban on the sale of new diesel HGVs approaches.

Philip Field, CEO of CNG Fuels, said: “Brands across the country are under more and more pressure to cut emissions from fleets and renewable biomethane is the only commercially viable solution on the market today.

“We are continuing to see high increases in demand and with the recent news of the 2040 ban on new diesel HGV’s, we expect the pace of demand to continue.

“We are rapidly expanding our nationwide network of refuelling stations, ensuring sites are strategically located across major trucking routes to make them as accessible as possible.

“The new site in Avonmouth is in a key location for many of our customers, allowing them to expand the reach of their low carbon deliveries into the South West and Wales.

“In addition to our expanding network, we are also preparing for a multiple fuel future to ensure that when new technologies emerge, the infrastructure will already be in place to cater to demand.”

Jason Wild, distribution and recycling Consultant of Lidl, said: “We are committed to reducing our environmental impact across our entire operations and switching our fleets over to renewable biomethane instead of diesel is a crucial step. CNG Fuels’ new station in Avonmouth is a key location to allow us to make low-carbon deliveries across the Southwest.”

Renewable biomethane is the lowest carbon and most cost-effective alternative to diesel for HGVs, cutting greenhouse gas emissions by up to 90% and reducing lifetime vehicle costs by 30%-40%.

John Dinham, owner of John Dinham Transport, said: “Running our fleets on 100% renewable biomethane is a win-win for our business and for our customers. It has been a huge selling point for us, especially amongst our bigger corporate customers who have pledged to reduce their carbon footprint.

“We are committed to significantly reducing emissions from our fleets and renewable biomethane is the perfect solution to enable us to do so now.

“We have more biomethane trucks on order and the new site in Avonmouth puts the world’s largest biomethane refuelling station on our doorstep, making it easier than ever to refuel our fleet with Bio-CNG. As our fuel supplier, CNG Fuels’ service is second to none, they have made us feel very comfortable about investing in bio-CNG technology.”

The site joins eight existing refuelling stations already operated by CNG Fuels, with most of the country already within a 300-mile range of one.