How is Flannery Plant Hire involved in the Red Diesel Replacement programme?

The team at Flannery Plant Hire is highly motivated to join in the research and development of solutions that can replace the construction industry’s historical reliance on Red Diesel. We take the responsibility we have to contribute to a cleaner, greener world very seriously and will do whatever is in our power to support the country’s journey to its Net Zero future.

We do also have to support our clients with their own direct sustainability targets. Andrea Davidson, Head of Environmental Sciences at HS2, has been quoted as saying, ‘Our ambition is to eliminate diesel on all HS2 construction sites by 2029.’

Adopting any new technology is never a simple task and hydrogen is no different. Aggregation of demand is key to unlocking the common barriers in developing the best solutions. Investment in fuel supply and production requires clear line of sight to the end customer, which is exactly what the Element 1 consortium of companies brings to the hydrogen fuel solution. We are extremely proud to be involved with this group of organisations, all focused on the future of the industry.

 

 

The success of our own operations will also clearly depend on our ability to assimilate technologies that do away with the use of red diesel. Skanska Costain STRABAG JV at Canterbury Road were proud to announce their first diesel-free construction site back in May 2022, and we have to be agile and innovative enough to keep up with industry’s ambitions.

We’re glad to have previously been involved in exploring the green hydrogen alternative fuel solution in July 2022, as part of the H2 Construction Project (in partnership with BAM, Motive Fuels, The Building Research Establishment (BRE), CENEX, PowerStar and MachineMax). We were able to support the project in their goal to examine past and current fuel consumption in plant usage to a high level of granularity, the results of which enabled the case for the switch to alternative fuels to be confirmed and progressed now.

The Element 1 project aims to reduce the construction industry’s reliance on fossil fuels and has brought together a variety of specialist contractors and suppliers from across the sector. Running for two years, it will provide practical solutions that will be demonstrated on an operational construction site for at least a month as part of the conditions of the grant award. The demonstration will support market assessment and business cases for investment and will measure and assess impacts on site productivity and emissions compared to conventional diesel plant, with learnings disseminated to the wider industry.

The project will aim to address other non-financial barriers to hydrogen production, supply and use, including skills/ training needs, Health and Safety, and regulatory issues. This very practical approach to developing the hydrogen solution is exactly what is needed to properly test its suitability and further explore any limitations.

Patrick Flannery is clear, ‘The right solution can never be developed in isolation, and there will have to be years of time spent refining the best way forward for red diesel replacement. The Element 1 group of companies understands the need for industry-wide collaboration and is dedicated to forging the way forward. We must learn now how to build the best solution for the future. It is an inspirational project that is absolutely necessary right now if we want to clean up the construction industry and meet the UK’s 2050 Net Zero commitment.’

About Element 1 and their hydrogen alternative to Red Diesel

The machine alone will not deliver on our drive to be better, less reliant on natural resources and proactively manage our peoples’ time. Utilising data and translating that to our people so they can understand how to evolve behaviours will help Flannery and its clients realise a demonstrable improvement in fuel burn, idle times, CO2/NOX/particulate emissions.

Who is involved in Element 1 and the hydrogen solution to Red Diesel Replacement?
  • BAM and Skanska are providing operating construction sites to demonstrate the solution
  • GeoPura is supplying hydrogen and a hydrogen powered generator
  • Reynolds Logistics is responsible for hydrogen transport/logistics
  • ULEMCo is adapting their dual fuel technology to convert plant
  • Flannery Plant Hire and Plantforce are providing the plant machinery
  • The Building Research Establishment (BRE) is supplying independent assessments and metrics

Colin Evison, innovation technical lead for BAM, said: ‘As well as the technical ambition, the Element 1 project aims to address barriers to hydrogen production, supply and use including skills and training needs, health and safety and regulatory issues. The demonstration will support market assessment and business cases for investment and will measure and assess impacts on site productivity and emissions compared to conventional diesel plant.

‘Ultimately, our aim is to shift hydrogen-powered plant use from being an experimental concept to creating practical solutions that allow implementation on busy construction sites. Importantly, all of our learnings will also be disseminated to wider industry.’

Dr Ranjit Bassi, Senior Consultant at BRE, says: ‘The UK’s construction sites consume over 1 billion litres of diesel/HVO fuel each year and we believe that within 10 years all construction plant over 10 tonnes will be powered by hydrogen. The transition of plant to 100 per cent hydrogen power will be similar to the pattern set by electric cars, with existing plant engines being converted to dual fuel hydrogen/diesel first, before the original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) start producing fully hydrogen powered plant.’

What is Innovate UK’s role in the Red Diesel Replacement programme?

In support of the Industrial Decarbonisation Strategy and Net Zero Strategy, which recognised the need for government intervention to advance the development of low carbon technologies necessary to reach net zero, Innovate UK is a key contributor in the distribution of funds as part of the £1 billion Net Zero Innovation Portfolio (NZIP).

They are the UK’s innovation agency and their aim is to help UK businesses to grow using an outstanding innovation ecosystem that is ‘agile, inclusive and easy to navigate’.

Effectively, they help organisations access the expertise and equipment they need, build partnerships that help them go faster, and fund the innovation work through grants and loans.

They appreciate the need for the best ideas to be determined through free and fair competition, and their funds can be accessed through phased ‘competitions’. (Funding decisions are made independently from government, as per the Haldane principle. This states that decisions about which research projects to fund should be made through independent evaluation by experts, based on the quality and likely impact of that research.)

On the basis that several low-carbon fuel alternatives became economically attractive to the red diesel consuming sector when the red diesel tax rebate was removed, Innovate UK opened up a competition for funding to explore these solutions.

Why does the Red Diesel Replacement programme exist?

Historically, diesel enjoyed a much lower rate of fuel duty (taxation) for many commercial applications, such as agricultural vehicles, gritters, mowers, construction vehicles and mobile generators.

To differentiate this fuel from standard diesel used for more domestic purposes, red dye was added.

There was (and still is) a long-term assumption that easy access to low-cost red diesel has stifled the development and adoption of less polluting technologies in the UK. Facing threats from climate change and air quality deterioration, the government banned the use of red diesel from April 2022.

The UK Government, the Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy (BEIS) and many businesses, know that adapting to a world without Red Diesel will be problematic. Therefore, a technology funding programme was launched to help companies research and choose technologies that help them reduce the costs of the transition away from red diesel.

Replacement fuel solutions will obviously need to be fit for purpose and sustainable in the long term – and trialled properly to ensure their viability.

The Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy (BEIS) commissioned E4Tech and Cenex to research, and lead, an industry consultation. This consultation guided the development of an innovation funding programme to help companies that rely on red diesel to find replacements.

The Red Diesel Replacement (RDR) programme forms a key part of the government response to decarbonise Non Road Mobile Machinery (NRMM).

Through Innovate UK, the RDR programme will provide up to £40 million as part of the £1 billion Net Zero Innovation Portfolio (NZIP), funded by the BEIS. NZIP aims to accelerate the commercialisation of innovative clean energy technologies and processes through the 2020s and 2030s.

Switching industry to lower carbon fuels will be critical for meeting the UK’s legally binding commitment to achieve Net Zero by 2050.