Over the past five months, Howard Civil Engineering has been offsetting and reducing the carbon emissions produced from Gateway 36, our 127-acre earthworks and S278 works project in Barnsley for our client, Harworth Group – and the results speak for themselves!

Machines on this site are the among first in our fleet to operate using hydrotreated vegetable oil (HVO) fuel. This fuel is a drop-in replacement for standard diesel and is made from 100 percent renewable and sustainable raw materials. Compared with normal diesel, HVO fuel reduces emissions by up to a whopping 90 percent.

We also began offsetting our emissions from this site early in 2021. As of September 2021, we have offset a whopping 227,294 litres of gasoil and 578.68 tonnes of CO2e!

To offset these emissions, Howard Civil Engineering is investing in both the Katingan Peatland Reforestation and Conservation Project and the 86 MW Hydro Project in Himachal Pradesh, India.

The Katingan Project seeks to protect and restore 149,800 hectares of peatland ecosystems in Central Kalimantan, Indonesia, in addition to offering sustainable sources of income to local people and tackling global climate change.

Elsewhere, in India, the 86 MW Hydro Project uses water as a renewable energy source to generate electricity, which is transmitted to Bajaura substation before being exported to the Northern, Easter, Western and North-Eastern grid.

These measures are just the start of Howard Civil Engineering’s plans to help us build more sustainable future.

We are looking forward to welcoming 19 new NRMM Stage 5 engine excavators to our fleet in 2022. These excavators will reduce our emission of Oxides of Nitrogen by 90 percent and particulate matter by 68 percent in comparison to the plant we are currently using.

Howard Civil Engineering has also recently purchased a brand-new eco-friendly welfare unit which is situated at our Entice site for Strata in Leeds. With a hybrid power plant and an automatic generator, this fully insulated unit boasts an estimated saving of approximately 2,580 litres of fuel per year. We are looking to roll out more of these units across several other sites in future.

Read more on how Howard Civil Engineering’s commitment to a responsible and progressive approach to sustainability here.