September 14, 2021. Carrefour, Jacky Perrenot and Iveco gathered around the 600th biomethane-powered vehicle of the Carrefour fleet in Paris, France, on the occasion of the Innovation Week in Transport and Logistics.
This time, Iveco awarded Jacky Perrenot and Carrefour the title of Biomethane Ambassadors. It is an initiative that the manufacturer is deploying on a European scale to highlight the companies that have contributed most effectively to protecting the environment.
In 2012, Carrefour tested its first vehicles using biomethane. Three Iveco Stralis bio-CNG had been delivered to Jacky Perrenot to supply Carrefour stores in the Lille region. Nine years later, no less than 600 units that run on this renewable gas are making deliveries to the supermarket chain across the country.
Thomas Mathieu, Carrefour’s Head of Corporate Social Responsibility, recalls the genesis of this initiative: “From the beginning, we wanted to reduce our carbon footprint. To begin this process, we met with Iveco and Jacky Perrenot to jointly find solutions for a sustainable energy transition. Bio-CNG has proven to be perfectly suited to our transportation organization and allows us to save 100 tons of CO2 per year per vehicle. Today, we are proud to celebrate the 600th biomethane truck in our fleet and we are completing the virtuous cycle with the recovery of our waste in green gas production. By the end of 2022, we plan to reach 1,200 bio-CNG vehicles. In this way, Carrefour will have halved all its CO2 emissions and we will also have contributed to the construction of 20 public stations for this alternative fuel. In the long term, our ambition is to abandon diesel by 2030.”
For Jacky Perrenot, the leading mass distribution carrier in France, the energy transition is also a real challenge. “With 600 natural gas vehicles, we now have the largest French and European fleet of heavy-duty alternative energy vehicles. We are convinced of the interest of natural gas, due to its economic and operational relevance. The conversion is facilitated by its range, total cost of ownership, recharge time and driving comfort, which are equivalent to those of a diesel. With natural gas we can access low-emission zones and make silent deliveries, day or night. This solution is increasingly participating in our fleet and should reach 24% by the end of 2025 and then 30% by the end of 2030,” explained Philippe Givone, President and CEO of Jacky Perrenot.
