Laing O’Rourke’s decision to join the exodus to HVO follows tests across its plant subsidiaries Select Plant Hire and Explore Plant & Equipment over the last six months.
However, Laing O’Rourke regards HVO as a ‘transition fuel’ as it works towards a plant fleet that is entirely made up of electric and hydrogen powered equipment.
The use of red diesel in plant equipment is currently the largest single source of the company’s direct emissions, comprising 39% of the total. The switch to HVO will reduce greenhouse gas emissions from plant by up to 90%.
Any third-party plant equipment used on its project sites will also have to use HVO rather than diesel, the company said.
Laing O’Rourke joins an increasingly long list of construction companies either trialling or committing to HVO, including Tilbury Douglas, Sir Robert McAlpine, Amey, Cementation, Kier, Sisk, BAM and Keltbray.
Select Plant Hire managing director Alex Warrington said: “This is a positive step forward and will result in a substantial reduction in the largest single source of our direct emissions. While it would be more straightforward to switch to white diesel, we believe it’s important we take the necessary actions to meet our 2030 operational net zero deadline.”
He added: “Our vision is to have all our plant powered by electricity or hydrogen by 2030. This is not possible right now, but from 2025 we expect to see a marked increase in the availability of electric and hydrogen plant equipment from manufacturers, and from then we will start to replace the HVO powered plant in our fleet.”
Laing O’Rourke is also in the process of moving to an all-electric company car fleet, with three-quarters of company cars now PHEVs or EVs. Last year, Select Plant Hire took delivery of the UK’s first electric crawler crane from Liebherr, and entered a partnership with Punch Flybrid to improve fuel efficiency and reduce emissions from the generators on its construction sites.
What is HVO?
Hydrotreated vegetable oil is a paraffinic fuel that can be used as a direct, drop-in replacement for both red and white diesel (without equipment modifications). HVO is synthesised from 100% renewable raw materials – such as vegetable oils, like rapeseed, sunflower and soybean, as well as animal fats – which reduces net CO2 greenhouse gas emissions by as much as 90%. HVO fuel overcomes the environmental and performance issues of earlier generation biofuels and conventional fossil fuels. This is due to a hydrogen-based production process, which produces a paraffinic diesel product with low aromatic and naphthenic hydrocarbon content with no sulphur. With zero FAME (fatty acid methyl ester) content, HVO is more stable and easier to transport and store than mineral diesels and other biofuels, suppliers say.
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