Sir Robert McAlpine will cease buying diesel for all of its activities by April next year, as it becomes the latest business to switch to running machines on vegetable oil.
The measure is one of a number of initiatives the contractor said would help to decarbonise its activities in line with targets to keep a rise in temperature from global warming under 1.5C.
The company has pledged to stop buying diesel and has started to transition to hydrogenated vegetable oil (HVO) on all of its sites.
From November, it will also introduce a new Ultra Low Emission Vehicle (ULEV) car scheme for employees, which incentivises and supports them to purchase electric vehicles.
Sir Robert McAlpine said these initiatives would “significantly” reduce its scope 1 & 2 emissions, allowing it to concentrate fully on understanding and reducing its scope 3 emissions. Scope 1 emissions relate to fuel combustion in company vehicles, while scope 2 emissions derive from purchased electricity, heat and steam. Scope 3 emissions relate to purchased goods and services, business travel, employee commuting, waste disposal, distribution, investments and leased assets.
Sir Robert McAlpine has worked with temporary power supplier Aggreko on trials to find more sustainable temporary site solutions, including examining the viability and scalability of load-on-demand solutions, battery-assisted generators and the use of HVO.
To address its indirect scope 3 emissions and help its clients achieve carbon reductions, Sir Robert McAlpine has also trialled a whole-life carbon calculator.
Simon Richards, head of sustainability at Sir Robert McAlpine, said: “Whilst 2050 seems like a long way away, the magnitude of change that we have to enact means that it will be here fast. When it comes to climate resilience, I am proud of what we are doing, putting in place things today that will deliver meaningful change and do our bit to secure our future.”
