A Melbourne coach and bus operator is the first fleet in Australia to sign up for Viva Energy’s opt-in Carbon Neutral Diesel.
Crown Coaches will fuel its entire fleet with opt-in Carbon Neutral Diesel it announced last week at an event held at its Nunawading headquarters, one of three depots it operates.
The new partnership with Viva Energy followed an advantageous meeting at last year’s Alternative Fuels Summit coordinated by the Victorian Transport Association.
The move to Carbon Neutral Diesel, a product certified by Climate Active, is part of the fleet’s current migration to zero emissions which has seen it also invest in 100 kilowatts of solar panels, battery storage and a new transformer as well.
Significant yard works at the site following the demolition of an office block is being prepared for the installation of 60 charging stations for battery electric vehicles, some of which are due in the second half of the year.
“The removing of the office block had to achieve a recyclable factor of at least 90 per cent,” said Jerome Haoust Crown Coaches Director.
“As part of the finishing of the yard works out there, we’ll see around 1100 tonnes of material including 100 per cent recycled concrete.”
Privately owned, the third generation Crown Coaches has been committed to lowering its emissions footprint since 2016 when it introduced its first Euro 6 emissions rated coach into the fleet.
With Euro 6 Haoust said the company had hit the limit of available diesel technology.
“Considering our past and existing environmental measures I hope it’s clear that Crown Coaches has been listening to our customers and it’s in our DNA to be a progressive business,” he said.
“It’s clear that partnering with Viva Energy gives us an advantage with our longer-term plans to reduce carbon in our business with an immediate and absolute effect,” said Haoust.
“If we can offset our diesel with carbon credits now, we can make a big difference today.
“We know that Australian projects we invest in with carbon credits with Viva Energy that those credits and Viva Energy’s processes are audited and credible.”
Crown had chosen to specifically align its carbon credits with Australian-only projects to ensure its investment directly benefited Australian communities while getting the CO2 abatement reporting functionality that the business was building into internal software.
The carbon credits used in offsetting the emissions associated with the fleet’s diesel use are purchased and retired by Viva Energy on behalf of Crown.
Viva Energy’s Carbon Solutions team works with a range of industry sectors to help customers with decarbonisation.
Through Climate Active, an ongoing partnership between the Australian Government and Viva Energy to drive what it considers voluntary climate action, the Carbon Solutions team has introduced opt-in carbon neutral products.
Viva Energy’s Chief Business Development and Sustainability Officer, Lachlan Pfeiffer, said the move to use opt-in carbon neutral fuels is expected to become an important transitional solution for more businesses as they embark on their decarbonisation journey.
“We recognise that customers have a complex journey ahead of them to decarbonise their businesses, especially when they have fleets of heavy vehicles reliant on traditional fossil fuel products,” he said.
“Our Carbon Solutions team has been working with commercial customers to navigate their way to a lower carbon future with a range of new products and solutions.”
Pfeiffer said that while new low-emission technologies such as hydrogen and EVs are on the way, transitional solutions are needed to lower the net carbon intensity for existing vehicles.
“That is why products like opt-in Carbon Neutral Diesel and other low carbon fuels can help customers in the short and medium term to meet their decarbonisation goals. We have a range of customers talking to us about these products across industries such as mining, construction, marine and heavy trucking,” he said.
Crown Coaches Business Development Manager Ivan Furlanetto said the company has been looking for opportunities to be more efficient and contribute to environmentally sustainable solutions.
“We’ve been working on this with Viva Energy since January this year and have been using their opt-in Carbon Neutral Diesel fuel in all our vehicles,” said Furlanetto.
“We see this as a bridging solution while we continue to transition our bus fleet to fully electric vehicles over the next few years,” he said.
That fleet, at present, contains 160 coaches, mainly across the Daimler brand, and carries 1750 students from private and special schools, daily.
Being an innovative business and a leader in its field had helped it grow as an organisation according to Haoust.
“Crown Coaches sees these measures as a steppingstone to our journey to carbon neutrality as soon as possible but we have the overarching aim to become carbon neutral by 2035. But I anticipate that we can do that sooner.”
The gathered coterie comprised senior executives, key personnel from Viva Energy, media and also included members of the Whitehorse City Council including Mayor Mark Lane, who in a speech thanked the Haoust family for taking the initiative and partnering with Viva Energy.
Lane said the Whitehorse council had recently further invested in additional carbon credits to offset its power in particular its traffic lights, swimming pools and local government facilities.