LONDON, August 5 /PRNewswire/ --

- Cage Street Cleansing Vehicle to Run on Compressed Biomethane Fuel Derived From Landfill

- With Photo

Gasrec, the UK's first commercial producer of liquid biomethane fuel, Veolia Environmental Services, the UK's largest waste management company, and full range commercial vehicle manufacturer Iveco, today announce the commencement of a commercial trial of a liquid gas fuel that could drastically reduce society's reliance on fossil fuels.

Veolia is trialing Compressed Biomethane (CBM) produced from gas extracted from a landfill site in one of the Cage street cleansing vehicles used in fulfilling its refuse collection, recycling and street cleansing contract with Camden Council. The natural gas-powered Daily light commercial vehicle in use for the trial is one of the latest generation of natural gas powered vehicle manufactured by Iveco and was supplied by Gasrec to Veolia Environmental Services. Gasrec will provide CBM for a trial lasting six months and the performance of the fuel will be measured against existing vehicles running on Compressed Natural Gas (CNG). The vehicle will be refuelled at a CBM refuelling station installed by Gasrec at Camden Council's York Way depot.

The project aims to demonstrate that biomethane is a commercially competitive and environmentally sound fuel that can be directly substituted for natural gas. The Government considers biomethane to be the most sustainable biofuel in terms of impact on resource depletion in relation to alternatives such as biodiesel and ethanol. Biomethane also has the lowest carbon intensity of all commercially available biofuels - on a well to wheel basis, biomethane reduces CO2 emissions by up to 70% in comparison to fossil diesel, with the potential to significantly improve local air quality. One tonne of CBM is also equivalent to 1,200 litres of diesel, which is sufficient to fuel a 44 tonne heavy goods vehicle for an entire week.

This new fuel is also designed to bring an end to any issues associated with the quality of natural gas available in the UK and offers fleet operators a serious and renewable alternative. Gasrec supplies the fuel by tanker in liquid form for bunkered storage - proving an ideal solution for applications where vehicles operate on a regular back-to-base cycle.

Camden Council Leader Cllr Keith Moffitt said: "As part of our share in tackling climate change, Camden Council works with and encourages all our contractors to make sure they are providing services that are as sustainable as possible. This pilot is particularly interesting as biomethane is recognised as one of the most climate friendly fuels. "

Cllr Alexis Rowell, Camden Council's Eco Champion, said: "The average household bin is one third food waste. Rather than send it to landfill or an incinerator, we can turn it into a gas - called biomethane - and run our municipal vehicle fleet on it. Biomethane means virtually no carbon or noxious emissions so it's good for the environment and for our air quality.. This seemed like a dream 18 months ago when Camden's Sustainability Taskforce suggested it, but now we're trialling both food waste collections and biomethane in our vehicles. It's a sign that the Council is serious about cutting the carbon out of Camden."

Richard Lilleystone, Chief Executive Officer at Gasrec, said: "The gas we use to make the CBM for this vehicle comes from a landfill site in Albury, Surrey, which began production in June 2008. In creating and selling this fuel product, we recover the latent energy stored in material discarded by society, providing power particularly suited to vehicles operating in the urban environment."

Keith Riley, Managing Director for Technical Services at Veolia, said: "CBM has excellent potential to provide at least some of our vehicles with a fuel that reduces climate change impacts and contributes to reducing our dependence on mineral fuels. We have to look at environmentally friendly alternatives for our operations and gas-powered vehicles are one of those developing technologies we are keen to assess."

Henk van Leuven, Managing Director of Iveco UK, added: "This is the first new-generation Iveco Daily in the UK to be built as a dedicated natural gas vehicle and is subjected to all of the same build-quality standards as one of our line-built diesels. Amongst a whole wealth of environmental benefits, its natural gas powered engine means that it is immune to both current and future oil price fluctuations."

Photos are available from M:Communications or Veolia Environmental Services on request

Notes to Editors

Technical notes

- The Daily 65C14G is built on a 3,750 mm wheelbase and has been supplied by Iveco dealer Stormont Truck & Van, mounted with a lightweight caged tipper body. It will be used by Veolia on waste and recycling collection rounds as part of a fleet of more than 40 vehicles which support the 200,000+ local residents.

- The Daily 65C14G benefits from a 3 litre engine which is capable of producing up to 136 hp between 2,730 and 3,500 rev/min, and up to 350 Nm of torque between 1,500 and 2,730 rev/min. It is built on Iveco's Daily production line in Suzzara, Italy, as a dedicated natural gas vehicle and is subjected to all of the same build-quality standards as a line-built diesel type.

- It is one of more than 26 different Daily CNG models available in the UK, plated between 3.5 and 6.5 tonnes, including four panel vans and five chassis cabs, together with crew cab variants available at certain wheelbase lengths. The chassis cabs can be fitted with a full range of bodies including curtainsides, tippers, dropsides, boxes or Lutons, providing the widest range of transport solutions available in the light vehicle sector.

- As with all new Daily vehicles running on natural gas, this latest vehicle offers a range of up to 380 km and is designed to deliver excellent reliability, safety and low running costs. It is eligible to pay a reduced rate to enter London's Congestion Charging zone and its reliance on natural gas means it is immune to oil price fluctuations.

- Since 1999, more than 2,500 Daily CNG vans and chassis cabs have been sold across Western Europe, highlighting Iveco's significant investment in developing alternatives to traditional diesel powered commercial vehicles.

About Gasrec

Gasrec is a producer of liquid methane fuel utilising gas generated by the decomposition of biomass. It obtains its gas supply from existing landfill sites or from controlled digestion of the biomass byproducts of food manufacture, retail and other industries. In creating and selling the fuel product, Gasrec recovers the latent energy stored in material discarded by society to power vehicles, especially those operating in the urban environment, or to generate electricity or CHP (Combined Heat and Power).

The generation of power from landfill sites in the UK is tried and tested, with over 300 UK landfill sites generating approximately 1,700 MW/h each year. However, a proportion of sites continue to flare unused gas as hitherto their development was not economically viable, thereby wasting the energy potential of the gas.

Gasrec has identified a clean, efficient use for this gas in the production of LBM (Liquid Bio Methane), a commercially competitive and environmentally sound fuel that can be directly substituted for both CNG (compressed natural gas) and LNG (liquefied natural gas) for use in gas-powered or dual-fuel vehicles, or to generate electricity or CHP (Combined Heat and Power).

About Veolia Environmental Services

Veolia Environmental Services is the UK's leading waste management company employing circa 12,500 people nationwide and serving over 16 million residents. Globally, the company employs over 100,000 people and serves more than 45 million inhabitants across 35 countries.

Veolia Environmental Services is the only worldwide provider of a full range of services for handling solid and liquid waste. It provides waste management and logistics services, as well as materials recovery and recycling. Veolia Environmental Services generated revenue of EUR9.2 billion in 2007.

The company is part of Veolia Environnement, the world leader in environmental services. With more than 300,000 employees, Veolia Environnement is a global operator providing tailored solutions to meet the needs of municipal and industrial customers in four complementary sectors: energy management, freight and passenger transportation water and waste. Veolia Environnement recorded revenues of EUR32.6 billion in 2007.

Further information can be obtained by visiting the websites:

http://www.veolia.co.uk http://www.veoliaenvironnement.com

About Iveco

Iveco designs, manufactures, and markets a broad range of light, medium and heavy commercial vehicles, off-road trucks, city and intercity buses and coaches as well as special vehicles for applications such as fire fighting, off-road missions, defence and civil protection.

Iveco employs over 24,500 people and runs 28 production units in 16 Countries in the world using excellent technologies developed in five research centres. Besides Europe, the company operates in China, Russia, Australia, Argentina, Brazil, and South Africa. More than 4,600 service outlets in over 100 Countries guarantee technical support wherever in the world an Iveco vehicle is at work.

Pictures accompanying this release is available through the PA Photowire. They can be downloaded from http://www.pa-mediapoint.press.net or viewed at http://www.mediapoint.press.net or http://www.prnewswire.co.uk."

Enquiries: Gasrec, Richard Lilleystone, Chief Executive, +44-(0)-20-7436-6805. M: Communications (PR for Gasrec), Charlotte Kirkham or Elly Williamson, +44-(0)-207-153-1530. Veolia Environmental Services, Dan Lester, +44-(0)-207-812-5035. Iveco, Nigel Emms, Director Brand & Communication, +44-(0)1923-259513. Camden Council, Lynn MacDonald, Senior Press Office, lynn.macdonald@camden.gov.uk, +44-(0)-20-7974-5238