Guinness introducing zero-emissions vehicles to fleet

Guinness is set to introduce the first zero-emissions vehicles into its fleet from summer 2022.

It is the first step in the brewer's plan for 70 per cent of its Quality fleet to be zero-emissions by the end of 2025, and 100 per cent by 2030.

There is already one zero-emissions vehicle in use at the brewery, which is being used in a trial this month to transport bulk beer in Guinness tankers from St James's Gate to Dublin Port. The trial is hoped to determine whether the vehicle can be used to transport heavy goods beyond the brewery.

Additionally, Guinness will be adding four zero-emissions trucks to its fleet later in 2022 which will be used in a separate trial to deliver kegs to hospitality venues in Dublin City, with an amibition to extend further if successful.

Barry O'Sullivan, managing director at Diageo Ireland, said: "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.

"We are only 263 years into our 9,000-year lease on the St James's Gate Brewery, and we are in it for the long haul - for our people, our products and our planet, and we will never settle in pursuit of a better, more sustainable future for everyone."

The announcement forms part of Diageo's wider 10-year sustainability action plan, Society 2030: Spirit of Progress, which outlines commitments to deliver net-zero carbon emissions across its direct operations and a 50 per cent reduction in indirect emissions.

The move to zero-emissions transport is the latest evolution in Guinness's transport strategy - a journey which began in 1759 with stabling for 12 horses at the distillery, moving through barge and early railway travel in the 1870s, the purchase of its first motor vehicles in 1901, and the introduction of bulk road tankers in 1951.

13 January 2022 - Bethany Whymark