An Post is switching its national fleet of heavy goods vehicles (HGV) from diesel to Hydrotreated Vegetable Oil to cut carbon emissions.
The postal service currently has more than 200 HGVs in operation and is changing to fossil free fuel to support its 50% emissions reduction target by the end of this year.
HVO is a renewable, fossil-free fuel produced from waste materials including used cooking oil, it delivers up to 90% fewer emissions than conventional diesel per litre, and requires no vehicle modifications.
The move from diesel to HVO is expected to eliminate 6,000 tonnes of CO₂ from An Post’s operations annually.
That is the equivalent of removing 1,300 diesel cars from Ireland’s roads or planting more than 300,000 trees each year.
Speaking on RTÉ’s Morning Ireland, Head of Sustainability at An Post Owen Keogh described this is the latest step in using a transitionary fuel while advances in eletricifation for HGVs are underway.
“We’ve been trialing HVO since around 2022 out of our Galway centre and we’ve had really positive results in terms of the emissions reduction, but also that the impact on vehicles was zero impact and it’s a really good substitute for diesel when it comes to fuel for those vehicles,” said Mr Keogh.
“To put that into context those vehicles are the ones that when everyone’s asleep in their beds at home are shipping parcels around the country to the local sorting centres to make sure that the parcels and letters end up in people’s doorsteps the next day.”
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An Post’s 2024 Sustainability Report shows that 39.8% of the company’s entire fleet now runs on alternative fuels, including HVO and EVs.
“This marks a watershed moment for An Post and sustainable transport in Ireland,” said Mr Keogh,
“The HVO rollout means we can deliver measurable climate impact nationwide – while simultaneously building the infrastructure and mindset essential for net zero success,” he said.
“Our progress is down to a continued investment in our fleet, our shift to alternative fuels and enabled by the exceptional colleagues who manage and operate our fleet on a daily basis.”
An Post is building on its successful trials of HVO in Galway and Cork, which it said delivered massively reduced emissions and improved fuel efficiency compared to diesel.
To support this nationwide implementation, An Post has invested €360,000 in dedicated HVO fuelling infrastructure at its Dublin, Portlaoise and Athlone Mail Centres.
“We’re designing Ireland’s mails and parcels infrastructure for the future, to support Irish business for generations to come, and our commitment to halving carbon emissions by the end of 2025 and achieving net zero by 2030 is at the heart of this,” said Garrett Bridgeman, Managing Director of An Post Mails & Parcels.
An Post was recently ranked fourth in the world by the International Postal Corporation for sustainability performance and continues to serve as a United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) Ambassador for Ireland.
