Laing O’Rourke champions 100% renewable diesel trials across Australia

The international engineering and construction company Laing O’Rourke announced Oct. 1 that it is championing trials of 100 percent hydrotreated vegetable oil (HVO100), also known as renewable diesel, across Australia.

The Metronet Byford Rail Extension project was the first in Western Australia to trial the use of renewable diesel.

The renewable diesel is powering four on-site pieces of equipment in partnership with Metronet, the Department of Transport and Curtin University, which will undertake studies to understand implications for fuel efficiency, emission reduction and impacts to engines.

In New South Wales, the St Marys Station footbridge project team worked with subcontractor AnewX to trial using HVO100 on its plant and equipment.

To date, positive outcomes have been reported with consistent engine performance and seamless transitions between fuel types.

“The adoption of renewable liquid fuels like HVO is critical to achieving our 2030 near-term targets,” said Hollie Hynes, Laing O’Rourke’s general manager of sustainability and environment.

“As the construction industry is heavily reliant on diesel, the transition to electric heavy machinery and plant will take time—beyond 2030,” Hynes said.

“HVO is widely available in other parts of the world at price parity and is the solution Laing O’Rourke is using in the U.K. to reduce scope 1 emissions,” Hynes added.

HVO100, derived from vegetable oils such as rapeseed or waste-based feedstock like used cooking oil, can significantly reduce greenhouse-gas emissions compared to diesel derived from fossil fuels.

Laing O’Rourke said given that construction is a known hard-to-abate industry, the phase-out of fossil-based diesel fuel as a significant contributor to global emissions is critical to achieving net-zero goals.