Waste-powered lorry set to deliver18 August, 2008 A lorry which runs on fuel produced from rubbish will make its first daily delivery to a food giant's new "green" store. The lorry runs on methane gas, which is produced from rotting rubbish - such as waste food, garden waste and newspapers - dumped in landfill. The gas is captured from landfill and purified, and the bio-methane produced is then used to power the truck. Hitting the road for the first time on Monday, the Sainsbury's lorry will make a daily 300-mile round trip from the firm's depot in Bristol to the supermarket's new environmental store in Dartmouth, south Devon. Sainsbury's is the first UK supermarket to deliver food using the green fuel technology. Using bio-methane from landfill can save up to 60% in CO2 emissions compared with diesel fuel. The lorry uses a Dual-Fuel system which enables diesel engines to operate on a combination of bio-methane and diesel - with a shot of diesel acting as a liquid spark plug. The Sainsbury's environmental store has been built with consideration for the use of energy, water, waste, timber and land. The pioneering store will save 40% of its overall CO2 emissions by using technology including a 'biomass boiler' which will heat the building and water. That means energy currently taken from the national grid will be slashed by 50% and replaced by renewable energy. The new Sainsbury's store has been designed to have fewer draughts and wind turbines will power the checkouts and contribute to cutting electricity usage by a third. Rainwater will be collected, and used to flush customer and staff toilets and to irrigate plants. The store will save over one million litres of mains water every year, and use 60% less water overall.
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