With the red diesel rebate ending, operators are having to pay more to power traditional refrigerated trailers with donkey engines, but Hultsteins UK have a readymade solution, reports Kevin Swallow.
IN JUNE 2019, the UK government launched a new strategy to ‘clean up the air and save lives’. It viewed air pollution as one of the biggest continuing threats to public health in the UK.
Part of that was to remove the red diesel rebate, announced in the March 2020 Budget. ‘White’ diesel used in road going internal combustion engines has a fuel duty rate of 57.95 pence per litre (ppl). Red diesel is entitled to a rebate of 46.81ppl, giving it an effective duty rate of 11.14ppl.
According to the government, red diesel accounts for around 15% of all the diesel used in the UK and is responsible for the production of nearly 14 million tonnes of carbon dioxide a year. Listed as a contributor to that pollution is road haulage and in particular ‘transport refrigeration units’ on lorries.
