IRELAND – Guinness, one of Diageo’s most successful alcohol brands worldwide, is expanding its fleet of zero-emission vehicles in Ireland as part of efforts to reduce its indirect emissions.
According to a statement from Diageo, plans are in place to add the first zero-emission vehicles to its ‘Quality’ fleet this summer.
Guinness already has a zero-emission vehicle, which is used at the brewery to transport bulk beer in the Guinness tankers from St James’s Gate to Dublin Port
The truck is used as part of a trial, to help determine whether it can be used to transport heavy goods beyond the brewery.
The company now plans to add four zero-emission trucks to its fleet later this year which will be used in a separate trial to deliver kegs to the hospitality trade in Dublin City, with the ambition to extend further if successful.
Barry O’ Sullivan, managing director at Diageo Ireland, said: “We’re really pleased to announce that we will be introducing the first zero-emission vehicles into our ‘Quality’ fleet from this summer.
We are committed to reducing our indirect emissions through this initiative and want to play a key role for sustainable transport in the commercial sector in Ireland.”
The company’s ambition is for 70% of the ‘Quality’ fleet to be zero-emission by the end of 2025 and 100% by 2030.
Removing emissions from its transport network will be necessary if Diageo is to achieve its 2030 net-zero carbon emissions goal.
According to Decarbonate, over 20% of an average beer’s carbon footprint is associated with transportation with a large chunk of that percentage coming from transportation from brewer to retail.
How much depends on the location of the brewery, the beer’s final destination, and how the brewer distributes.
Earlier, Diageo made progress in its net-zero ambition by opening its first carbon-neutral distillery in Lebanon, Kentucky.
The 72,000 square-foot facility uses electrode boilers powered by 100 percent renewable energy and has the capacity to produce up to 10 million proof gallons per year.
To power, the new facility – the largest of its kind in North America – Diageo has partnered with Inter-County Energy and East Kentucky Power Cooperative (EKPC) to source a mix of wind and solar energy to power internal and external lighting, distillery equipment, and a fleet of on-site electric vehicles.
Bulleit Bourbon is the first and lead brand to be distilled at the Diageo Lebanon Distillery, supplementing existing production capacity at the Bulleit Distilling Co. in Shelbyville, Kentucky.
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