Vegetable Oil to Keep Surrey’s Roads Skid Free This Winter

Published on: 21 Jan, 2022
Updated on: 25 Jan, 2022

SCC gritting lorry

Surrey’s 39 gritters will trial running on environmentally friendly Hydrotreated Vegetable Oil (HVO) fuel from this week, as part of Surrey County Council’s commitment to reduce carbon emissions across the county.

HVO fuel reduces the carbon produced from combustion engines by up to 90 per cent. For every 1,000 litres of diesel burned, 3.6 tonnes of greenhouse gas CO2 are produced, compared to just 195kg CO2 for every 1,000 litres of HVO burned.

Over the course of the winter season, Surrey’s gritters will use approximately 30,000 litres of fuel, and by switching to HVO rather than using diesel will reduce the carbon produced from gritting activities by around 102 tonnes.

Cllr Matt Furniss

Matt Furniss (Con, Shalford), Cabinet member for Transport and Infrastructure said: “I’m delighted that our gritters will continue to help keep major routes in Surrey safer this winter, but now by using 100 per cent biodegradable fuel. We’re also bringing in HVO for other vehicles over the coming months including those used to convert our 89, 045 streetlights to LED.

“Introducing cleaner, greener travel like this is one of many ways we are tackling the climate change emergency and securing the future of our county for future generations.”

33 gritting routes are treated during freezing conditions from October – April. So far, over 4,330 tonnes of salt have been deployed on 1032 Surrey roads.