Sisk is the first construction business in Ireland to mandate the switch to HVO across all sites, supplied by Certa.

HVO is a fossil-free biofuel typically made by reacting waste vegetable oils and animal fats with hydrogen to create fuel suitable for use in diesel engines.

The switch to HVO will deliver Sisk a 90% reduction in CO2e and 85% reduction in other harmful emissions such as particulate matter.

The amount of diesel that Sisk uses annually emits 3,000 tonnes of CO2, which accounts for 60% of its scope 1 carbon emissions.

Sisk was the first construction business in the UK to utilise this sustainable fuel at its Northstowe project in Cambridgeshire for its client, Homes England. This project used circa 1.5 m litres of HVO.

In April, 100% of site fuel procured by Sisk projects in the UK was HVO. As a result, carbon emissions of Sisk UK operations have been reduced by 36%.

The business is also exploring a switch to HVO and similar supply arrangements for its European projects.

Ian O’Connor, energy manager, John Sisk & Son said: “Our transition to HVO is a major strategic step change and it will positively impact our carbon performance immediately. We estimate a 60% reduction of our Scope 1 emissions when the entire company is using this fuel.

“We have set ourselves ambitious targets to achieve carbon neutrality by 2030 and this is another important milestone on the journey. We will continue to monitor new technologies and innovation to ensure we are at the forefront of clean and efficient sustainable solutions.”

Andrew Graham, managing director, Certa Ireland said: “We are delighted to be supplying Sisk with our ground-breaking GD+ HVO product. This is a great opportunity to facilitate Sisk in their journey to achieve Net Zero by 2030.”

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In a forthcoming interview with IFCR, Senior Director of Retail Operations for Dealer & Franchise Derek Nolan says the company sees great potential in High Street locations and is on the lookout for more.

In September 2021, Circle K acquired 10 Griffin Group convenience stores across Dublin, most of which were in coveted city centre locations, an unexpected step onto the High Street for the forecourt giant which is well known globally for its fuel and convenience stores.

“This marked our first move onto the High Street where we were selling food and not selling fuel. We see great potential for our offering in these locations,” Derek Nolan told IFCR.

However, he insists the company is in no danger of forgetting its roots, despite its continued interest in the High Street.

“This is an important and exciting development with Circle K, but it’s important to note that we remain hugely committed to fuel retailing and our network of service stations throughout the island of Ireland,” he said.

“But we’re in a lovely position where we’re continuously looking for the next opportunity, whether that’s on the High Street, whether that’s on new builds or whether that’s bringing new customers in – we’re in a really strong position where we have the ability to continuously look at that area.”

Derek’s own area of the business – the dealer and franchise network – is growing quickly, with 243 sites across the island of Ireland where he works directly with independent retail partners.

The franchise model sees independent retail partners opt for both a Circle K fuel and food shop offering in which Circle K offers the same operational excellence and food offering that it would in a company-owned site, while dealer partners opt for a Circle K fuel offering only.

“We’ve brought 15 new sites to the dealer network over the last 15 months. Our dealer partners look to the Circle K model as to what the future is going to look like, and an example of that would be around electrification and fuel quality,” Derek says.

“We have more than 14,000 stations globally and that gives us a good sound basis of understanding of the current market and what the future looks like.”

To read the full interview, watch out for the forthcoming issue of IFCR.

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