Please also read our full position statement, which can be shared with external audiences.

Balfour Beatty is committed to reducing the impact of its operations on the environment. As part of our Building New Futures Sustainability Strategy, our ambition is to achieve beyond net zero carbon emissions by 2040.

This can only be achieved by considering how we use and power our plant and equipment. (More details below). We are aligning with Science Based Targets initiative in our carbon reduction target setting and as such we must consider both our own emissions (Scope 1 and 2) and the emissions of our supply chain (Scope 3), as illustrated in the diagram below.

Source: Adapted from the Greenhouse Gas Protocol, Corporate Value Chain (Scope 3) Accounting and Reporting Standard

Balfour Beatty does not directly purchase HVO fuel for our sites and will expect our supply chain to support our policy position when working for Balfour Beatty. We are working with our supply chain partners to keep HVO use when operating plant and fleet on our sites to an absolute minimum, for example whilst some plant may arrive from other sites with tanks part full of HVOs, once used up, we expect them not to refill their plant with HVO whilst on a Balfour Beatty site.

We will continue to support our supply chain in transitioning to other types of sustainable energy solutions.

This depends on your role as a supply chain partner:

We have decided that for Balfour Beatty, HVO will not be a transition fuel based on the current evidence available. We will not support the use of HVOs our sites. We will share our research and innovation in this area and look to collaborate on low carbon fuel solutions. If you are currently using HVO outside our sites but relevant to our scope 3 emissions, we will require evidence that the company is using HVO as a short-term transition fuel and ask for an alternative fuel transition plan. 

Balfour Beatty has reviewed audit trails for HVO fuels and haven’t been satisfied that they are able to go back far enough to the original source or consider displacement activity. We have also reviewed independent research on HVO. In addition, we have taken guidance from our Group fuel supplier.

Our key concern is that global demand for used cooking oil is predicted to exceed supply. There is a known risk that this spike in demand is resulting in land use change through peatland and marshland clearance and deforestation in countries such as a Malaysia and Indonesia and that it could also increase the use of virgin palm oil to meet demand.

EU research1 indicates that once the effects of land use change and draining of peatland are accounted for, the GHG impact of palm-oil derived HVO could be up to 3 times greater than standard fossil fuel diesel.

Our Sustainability Strategy requires us to take a responsible approach and to consider all of the environmental implications in the decisions we make.

We will keep our position under review. However, until we have understood all the potential impacts and until we can be confident beyond doubt that HVO will not cause environmental damage elsewhere, Balfour Beatty will not be making a commitment to HVO. 

1 https://www.transportenvironment.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/Biofuels-briefing-072021.pdf 10 years of EU fuels policy increased EU’s reliance on unsustainable biofuels, July 2021

In addition to speaking with key fuel suppliers in the UK, carrying out our own trials and reviewing audit materials. We have reviewed information from:

Balfour Beatty has already undertaken trials on HVO. We are not currently looking to do further trials for HVO or GTL. However, we will continue to examine all new research and data as it becomes available. If you have new evidence or data, or if you have other sustainable energy solutions for plant and fleet, we would be willing to review them.

No, you will not have to drain your tank before coming to a Balfour Beatty site. However, we expect you not to refill your plant with HVO whilst on a Balfour Beatty site.

Our Sustainability Strategy requires us to consider all of the potential impacts of our actions. That includes potential negative implications in other parts of the world that could, as a result of these actions, drive global carbon emissions up. Balfour Beatty has done extensive research on HVO and to date we do not believe the whole-life impacts provide sufficient sustainability benefits.

This is a situation we are keeping under constant review. We will continue to assess all the data and information that is published on HVO. We would only look again at our position if the issues we have outlined were resolved beyond doubt.

Given that the ultimate source of many HVOs in particular is uncertain, even in those that are said to be sustainably sourced, and the real risk that significant increase in use on construction sites across the country could be causing increased carbon emissions in other parts of the world due to land use change. As such, we are encouraging the Government to undertake a review of HVO use in the UK and to set clearer requirements around their use on publicly funded schemes, to provide clarity to the sector and to ensure a level playing field.

HVO is a liquid hydrocarbon which is classified for excise purposes as heavy oil and treated the same as diesel. You will therefore not have any tax advantages from using HVO. You may find that with the removal of rebated fuel, HVO becomes more expensive than white diesel.

Balfour Beatty is committed to phasing out the use of diesel and other fossil fuels in our operations as quickly as possible – but we are determined to ensure that we do so responsibly. While we are considering how to ensure the traceability and true impact of products including HVO and GTL, we are continuing to make progress on decarbonising our plant and fleet in other ways. In line with our Sustainability Strategy, Building New Futures, Balfour Beatty is pursuing the following steps to reduce carbon emissions from its plant and fleet:

Balfour Beatty plc is registered in England as a public limited company

Registered No: 395826 Registered Office: 5 Churchill Place, Canary Wharf, London E14 5HU

Balfour Beatty’s Sophie Dumont, Senior Commercial Manager and Diane Champion, Assurance Director won big at yesterday’s European Women in Construction & Engineering Awards! Well done to all our finalists who took part – find out more here: https://t.co/kvkox2qNl0 @WICEAwards https://t.co/mO3xhyO7pA

Huge congratulations to our Data Analyst Apprentice, Ben Jewers-Pettinger who was a finalist in the Young Change Maker category at this year’s #PrincesTrustAwards hosted by Ant and Dec! Re-watch last night’s full show on ITV Player here: https://t.co/tA5E8XaMb5 https://t.co/QdD7AnBV5F

Balfour Beatty, @CPE_NandS, @EastSuffolk, @Scape_Group, Claret Civil Engineering and @AECOM have come together to help keep Lowestoft’s beaches clean – volunteering 136 hours in total to the project. #TeamScape https://t.co/JCPJDaDA87

We’ve secured a new, c. £50 million contract to deliver essential upgrade works to @TfL's Piccadilly line in advance of the next generation of trains being introduced from 2025! Read more here: https://t.co/wTC5TZ1GV8

Our Rail team recently planted around 380 trees for Seacroft Grange Primary School in Leeds as part of a two day volunteering project with our corporate charity partner @groundworkuk. Thanks to @SunbeltRentals for their help on the day! @SeacroftGPS https://t.co/F0Z0mUKLaa