Carillion trials Peugeot Expert on cooking oil

Support services company Carillion is running a Peugeot Expert van on used cooking oil as part of a six-month trial which it claims could cut annual fuel bills by £2,500.

The oil, which comes from 38 on-site army staff canteens, is mixed with ethanol via a rig called a Green Fuel FuelPod, which produces 40 litres a week with no waste product.

Rupert Webster, account manager at Carillion Planned Maintenance, says: "We wanted to play our part in reducing emissions at Catterick [operating site] and did a lot of investigation into electric vehicles, but when we started to look at using waste oil the benefits were immediately obvious."

The Renewable Fuels Agency advises that using cooking oil typically offers a lifecycle greenhouse gas saving of 85% compared with normal diesel road fuel.