London Calling

I always saw myself as someone who was very aware of the responsibility of living with consideration for my fellow man. I would have said I cared a lot for the environment, without giving it much thought. Then I watched Al Gore’s film “An Inconvenient Truth” and a lot changed for me. Suddenly I realised I was sleepwalking through life unaware of impending disaster. It is easy to be a busy fool, fiddling while Rome burns or is it Los Angeles or the outskirts of Sydney. It was a huge wake up call for me.

Images started to come into my mind about global warming. I remembered when I climbed Kilimanjaro how small the glaciers looked versus the traditional image shown of the mountain. If you had asked me five years before whether the environment was important I would have said very much so. And yet there I was driving around in a Range Rover because it was safe for the kids!!

A Prius has replaced the Range Rover. Taxis have been dropped for an Oyster card. Everything at home that can be recycled is recycled. All those measures are not enough when your company is running 22 vans through London and the South-East five days a week.

At London Calling we tend not to do things by half. When we embrace an idea we go for it. By the end of next year we intend to have all our vans either LPG (Liquid Paraffin Gas) or electric. By the end of this year we will be three quarters of the way to achieving that target. We recycle all of the remaining print and we know exactly where it is going and what it will be next. We have become more efficient in distributing and displaying print as we are covering fewer miles as our routing of journeys becomes more and more sophisticated.

We are embracing sustainability throughout the company. We have a green committee that has representatives from each department. We had a sustainability audit with Global Action Plan and now are working towards a Government accreditation.

Sustainability has become a genuine focus and every step along the way to hitting our environmental policy objectives and carbon footprint targets is met with as much enthusiasm as hitting our sales and profitability target.

I believe that the sustainability issue is going to grow in importance over the next few years as we are all forced to wake up and be more aware. Whatever you read and whenever you turn on the news, climate change and sustainability is not far from the surface. Obama, as President, I believe creates a new chapter and new momentum to the progress and even the financial crisis has failed to push the issue off the agenda. With the 2012 Olympics approaching at a frightening speed the ‘One Planet” objectives increases the awareness of the change and places London as a centre of excellence for sustainability.

I recognise that this is not a quick fix but from now on a way of life. At London Calling we are all prepared to take responsibility and our staff show a heartening enthusiasm to embrace the challenge.

By 2012 we will have a fleet of LPG and electric vehicles. We will have reduced our energy consumption to a minimum level and may well have invested in ways of generating our own energy. We want to explore more and more ways of making a difference, exploring zero emission hydrogen fuel cells and ways of reducing our total energy consumption further. We owe a huge thank you to Dr Ben Todd at Arcola Theatre for pointing us in the right direction and providing added enthusiasm and motivation for us to go further. We will have established a best practice for our industry and put forward recommendations as to how others can follow. Sustainability is something to share with everyone.

I took my kids to get a haircut last month and while Charlie was being “done” Larry (7 years old) was given an apple to eat. Where do I put the core? He asked. In the kitchen he was told. He returned with the core still in his hand saying he couldn’t find the compost bin!!

That’s the future when it becomes an unquestionable habit for everyone to embrace. I believe as a company we can inspire our clients as well as our peers to concentrate on reducing the damage we are doing to the planet. Our sponsorship of JAM, the AMA quarterly publication, is helping us get our message over to our clients and we will continue to pursue these goals. Then and only then can we talk about sustainability as something real rather than just a pale aspiration?

Andrew Moir – Managing Director

Apart from the benefits to the environment we live in and in turn our quality of lives there are also significant financial gains to be made for using fuel types other that Diesel or petrol.

Extensive independent tests demonstrated that running on LPG autogas resulted in a 20% reduction in carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions when compared to the equivalent petrol vehicle and it is anticipated to have a 10% advantage over the equivalent diesel by 2010. But, depending upon which carbon calculator you use LPG vehicles can be anything between 8% and 25% less polluting than diesel vehicles or 10% to 40% less polluting than petrol. Confused…?

On www.carbonneutral.com the calculator indicates that a diesel van travelling 15,000 miles per annum emits 4.5 tonnes of Co2. An LPG will emit 3.6 tonnes of Co2. 20% less. Okay, let’s use that as a benchmark.

So, 0.9 tonnes of Co2 but what about NOx (Nitrogen Oxide) – the fine particles that cause asthma and respiratory issues?
Department of Health statistics show that particulates are responsible for thousands of advanced deaths and thousands of instances of illness; also NOx emissions are a major element of low-level ozone, which causes smog and can worsen existing asthma conditions.

Diesel vehicles emit 20 times more NOx than LPG according to www.drivelpg.org. Pro-diesel sites suggest that this is an exaggeration.

FINANCIAL BENEFITS

The energy in a litre of Autogas is less than in a litre of Petrol or Diesel. Actual savings will depend on the car and its condition, the journey and individual driver’s style of driving. However, comparing the three types of fuel in a similar vehicle over 1000 miles is startling:

Congestion Charge: based on 4 trips per week over 50 weeks the annual CC charge for one vehicle would be:

4 trips x 50 weeks = 200 x £7.50 = £1,500 pa saving

To summarise, the headlines are:

1. LPG vehicles emit around 20% less Co2 pa than diesel or 0.9 tonnes.

2. Diesel vehicles emit 20 times more NOx than LPG vehicles.

3. We save around £1,500 pa on Congestion Charging per vehicle.

4. Cost per 1000 miles is around 17% cheaper using LPG.

To find out more about LPG visit www.drivelpg.co.uk

London Calling takes the impact it’s fleet of delivery vans has on the environment very seriously. Up to 2006 our entire fleet was diesel which in itself is a greener option compared to petrol. Modern low sulfur diesel is a more efficient fuel compared to petrol, it has a higher energy per litre characteristic offering 20-40% better fuel economy transferring to a 10-20% reduction in greenhouse gas emission compared to a standard petrol engine. For obvious reasons the diesel powered vehicle has been the preferred option for use in logistics since the early part of the 20th century offering better value on running costs. However diesel in itself is not the solution for a carbon reduced or carbon neutral fuel.

So what are today’s alternatives?

There are many emerging alternative vehicle fuels being experimented with today including hydrogen and compressed air. However biofuels such as Biodiesel and Bioethanal, the cleaner fossil fuel LPG (liquefied petroleum gas) and electric are all fuel options that are becoming available for commercial and consumer use.

Biofuels

Biodiesel

Biodiesel used in compression ignition engines is obtained from renewable, non-fossil and organic materials (vegetable oil) and will not directly add carbon (when burnt) into the environment if used pure (100%). Optional blends can be used mixed with normal diesel containing amounts such as 5% biodiesel to 95% conventional diesel (B5) with other mixes such as B20, B30 etc available. These can be used relative to the compatibility of the vehicles engine and will reduce the carbon output relative to percentage mix. Currently only VW, Audi, SEAT and Skoda give 100% approval for the use of Biodiesel in their vehicles. Renault who we use in our fleet have stated that as of 2009 all of their diesel engines will be capable of running on a 30% blend of Biodiesel (B30). Recently Biodiesel has been suffering from negative PR where environmental groups such as Friends of the Earth have been highlighting the damage caused to the environment from deforestation to create land for palm oil plantations. However there are companies such as bio-power fuels for future that produce Biodiesel from recycled waste vegetable or cooking fat as apposed to using palm oils from non sustainable sources. Bio-power fuels produce a range of bio-diesel products with one (Bio-power V100) claimed to be compatible with any diesel vehicle.
Biodiesel is not currently one of the more commercially viable sources of greener fuel, it’s not widely available and where it is it’s generally distributed by local agents meaning a need for a holding tank. There are companies such as greenfuels – greenfuels.co.uk that offer production equipment for domestic and commercial use, however these methods require the sourcing of used cooking oils which of late has been a competitive area with places such as chip shops and restaurants cashing in on the emerging market potential and revenue stream for their waste oils. Green Fuels have also made a statement in the fight back against a governmental report deriding biofuels for their alleged damage to the environment. They state that the UK climate is unsuitable for the use of palm oil as a fuel beyond a very low blend and their ethical policy means that it does not use and actively discourages the use of palm oil by others. Currently London Calling is not using biodiesel for any of it’s fleet.

Bioethanol

Bioethanol is an alcohol based – yes the same as in consumable alcoholic drinks! – clear liquid used in spark ignition engines (petrol engines). It’s produced all over the world by fermenting crops such as sugar cane and corn. In the UK it’s currently imported but will soon be produced from UK grown grain and sugar beet. The idea behind Bioethanol is that all the carbon dioxide emitted during production and burning through combustion is absorbed by the crops as they grow giving an ‘energy balance’ to the cycle of production and use. The energy efficiency of production varies from crop to crop used for production with sugar cane (as used in Brazil) being the most efficient. Bioethanol does produce carbon dioxide when burnt however life cycle greenhouse gas emissions can be reduced by up to 90% when produced through the most efficient methods. In the EU production through sugar beat and grain is not as efficient although the reductions are still significant at figures of up to a 65% reduction in greenhouse gasses. Bioethanol can be used in pure alcohol form in modified engines although more commonly as with biodiesel it’s blended to mixes such as 5 & 85% (E5 & E85). Currently due to ongoing regulations in the aim to reduce greenhouse gas emissions much of the unleaded petrol we buy is a blend of 5% bioethonal (E5) as this mix can be used in unmodified petrol engines. E85 will be the standard highest mix available in the UK due to higher mixes being unreliable throughout the colder winter months. As with biodiesel availability is still scarce throughout the UK but if consumers buy into the technology car manufactures with start to produce more compatible vehicles and in turn fuel will become more widely available. Currently in Europe Saab, Ford and Volvo build ‘flex-fuel’ cars that will run on E85 blends switching to ordinary unleaded where supply is unavailable. Of course the issue of sustainable crop growth comes to light with the impact on the land and society in regards to the amount of land needed to meet contemporary fuel demands. London Calling doesn’t have any bioethonal vehicles in it’s fleet.

Cleaner fossil fuel

LPG

LPG or liquefied petroleum gas is a low carbon content fuel created by refining petroleum or ‘wet’ natural gas. It has been used a an alternative fuel for the spark ignition engine since as early as the 1940s. It’s main advantage is that it is non-toxic, non-corrosive (some biodiesels can be corrosive to rubber and internal fuel tank paint) and free of tetra-ethyl lead or any additives whilst still maintaining a high octane rating. The fuel consumption of an LPG engine is around 30% higher than that of a standard petrol engine, however compared to petrol the greenhouse gas emissions are reduced due to it’s low carbon content which more than balances out the higher fuel consumption. From the financial point of view although LPG vehicles are slightly more expensive to initially purchase savings are made through governmental tax breaks on vehicles. Again due to low fuel duty rates LPG is around half the price of petrol on the forecourt plus LPG vehicles are also exempt from the London congestion charge creating more savings on running costs. Other advantages from using LPG include extended engine life due to it’s clean burn characteristics and reduced engine stress. Currently half the London Calling fleet of delivery vans are LPG. We decided to take the route of using LPG as the technology has now become developed and widely available enough to match the demands of our services and at the same time reduce the carbon footprint of our delivery fleet.

Electricity

Electric vehicles have been around since as early as the late 19th century and were at first the preferred vehicle of choice due to lack of noise created by the engine as compared to very early combustion engines. However this soon changed and as petrol and diesel engines became quieter and vehicles became available to the masses so the fossil fuel powered engine came to rule and with it the problems we face today due to the greenhouse gasses they emit. Electric vehicles have been used throughout the 20th century you only have to think of the good old milk float. They have traditionally been slower than fossil fuel driven cars and with a range and speed limited relative to the capacity of the battery. With modern battery technologies improving through the use of Lithium Ion, higher power densities and in turn greater range and acceleration characteristic have been achieved. This has translated to ‘all-electric’ vehicles as now being a viable commercial option with various different manufactures entering the market. Common place now are the hybrid electric vehicles that use internal combustion engines along side a battery operating in a charge-sustaining mode, the Toyota Prius is an example that is becoming more ubiquitous today. The obvious environmental advantage of the electric vehicle is that it doesn’t cause any direct pollution through exhaust emissions. This makes it the ideal vehicle for heavily populated cities. However critics say that electric vehicles only push the problem through the energy chain meaning the pollution in emitted into the environment via the gas, coal, nuclear power stations needed to produce the electricity for the charge. Of course if the electricity is generated through hydro or wind then it can be a truly non polluting vehicle. Unfortunately hydro or wind has it’s own effect on small outer rural communities as they pay the price of wind turbines impacting on the landscape in order to support the energy needs of the towns and cities.

London calling has recently acquired the French build electric Mega van (pictured below). This will be used for central London distribution areas such as Soho and Covent Garden where high people densities are affected daily by pollutive particles emitted by petrol and diesel engines. By using our electric van we can actively help reduce pollution to make a different to what is a city where the roads are jammed with people too reliant on the car.

So what’s the answer?

The use of Biofuels will certainly help to ease our reliance on fossil fuels with biodiesel being an excellent way of reusing waste cooking oil, but at current rates of fuel consumption they are not the complete answer simply due to insufficient land to grow enough crops for both food and fuel. The more widely we adopt smaller more efficient engines that use cleaner fossil fuel the bigger difference we will make. The technology is there, the VW bluemotion is a 1.4 diesel that can drive from London to the South of France on a single tank of fuel emitting carbon at the rate 99 g/km.

Hydrogen

Hydrogen fuel cells and the process of splitting water by electrolysis to create hydrogen has been around since 1838 discovered by German scientist Christian Friedrich Schönbein. It’s the front runner for carbon neutral vehicles and arguably could have been in use for years if it weren’t for the power of the oil companies. Hydrogen can be used to drive either an electric motor or even used in an spark ignition engine where the only emissions are water! One point is that sources of hydrogen are not overly abundant meaning the need for electricty from fossil fueled power plants or chemical processes to create it. Many car manufactures have been building vehicles using this technology for years so I hope it ultimately wins through, becomes widely available and reduces our dependence on oil.

What ever the solution is London Calling will be introducing more alternative fuel vehicles to its fleet so we continue to reduce the carbon output that our deliveries produce.