Calor: Sustainable energy solutions
Calor has a bold ambition. It is to offer its rurally-based customers 100 per cent renewably and sustainably sourced energy by 2037, its centenary year.
Calor recognises that to realise this goal, innovation, and collaboration are essential and is working closely with employees, customers, suppliers, and partners to continuously identify new solutions and make them available.
Energy security and affordability are at the forefront of people’s minds. There is a growing focus on how to heat homes and businesses, potential renewable solutions and the costs associated with a warm and comfortable environment.
Decarbonising heat is key to achieving net zero. However, it is imperative that consumers have a choice of home energy solutions to meet every budget, infrastructural challenge, and environmental goal.
SHV Energy, Calor’s parent company, has a long history of innovation and commitment to lowering the carbon footprint of the fuel range offered across the organisation’s business units. Over the years, as the environmental impact of carbon and air pollutants has become clearer, they have moved away from coal and oil to offer Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) and Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG.)
Working with rural consumers located off the natural gas grid, Calor has been providing LPG to homes and businesses for over 80 years, offering significant advantages to many business sectors due to its lower carbon credentials compared to oil and other higher carbon producing fossil fuels. With more and more companies placing sustainability in their long-term strategies, Calor has introduced Futuria, a new and growing portfolio of sustainable energy solutions, and a commitment to grow and develop the pathways to make these available in the future. In tandem with its parent company SHV Energy, Calor is making strides in developing, investing in, and growing the Futuria range.
Since 2018, Calor Ireland has been at the forefront of enabling off grid consumers to make more environmentally friendly choices by delivering access to the first commercially available, certified renewable gas in Ireland, BioLPG. Produced from renewable feedstocks, such as plant and vegetable waste, BioLPG reduces CO2 emissions by up to 90 per cent*, and is identical in use and performance to conventional LPG meaning that the transition is simple and cost effective with no requirement to change equipment if using LPG powered appliances currently.
Richard Alexander, Sustainable Fuels Lead, Calor says: “Calor and SHV Energy understand that we will need to do more to meet climate targets. SHV Energy is partnering with leading, innovative players to help make sustainable fuel advances possible through its Futuria Sustainability Strategy. Calor Ireland has been to the forefront of enabling off grid consumers to make more environmentally friendly choices by delivering access to our certified renewable gas since 2018. Calor has the experience and the expertise to play a leading role in Northern Ireland’s green energy evolution, with its ambition that all its energy products will be from renewable sources by its centenary year 2037.”
SHV Energy has partnered with leading, innovative players to help make these sustainable fuel advances possible. it has a strong global portfolio of R&D projects and partners, working to develop dedicated pathways to purposely produce BioLPG and other sustainable fuels with high yields and from a wide range of feedstock. These active collaboration with leading universities, such as Queen’s University Belfast, the University of Amsterdam, and Aston University.
“Calor Ireland has been at the forefront of enabling off grid consumers to make more environmentally friendly choices by delivering access to our certified renewable gas since 2018.”
There is a clear need for alternative renewable energy solutions in off-grid areas, whether for homes and businesses in rural areas, hard to electrify HGVs or industrial processes. To address this the LPG Industry across the globe are transitioning to ‘drop-in’ renewable liquid gases, one of which is dimethyl ether (rDME), a renewable gas produced from municipal waste. rDME is an affordable drop-in fuel that can be safely blended into LPG and BioLPG with no change to existing infrastructure. It is envisioned that the sustainable fuel will then be used by the LPG Industry in a variety of applications, benefiting homes and businesses in rural areas in the future.
Recently, SHV Energy announced their commitment to accelerating the development of rDME with a joint investment venture with UGI International, into a company called Dimeta, which will produce the rDME and accelerate its adoption. This, alongside other renewable liquid gases can reduce carbon emissions, improve air quality in an affordable way. Renewable and recycled carbon DME (rDME) is a safe, clean-burning, sustainable fuel that can support decarbonisation of the off-grid energy sector including domestic and commercial heating and cooking, industry and transport.
Dimeta plans to produce 50,000 tonnes per year of rDME in the first UK plant. The production facility is located in Teesside, one of the UK’s leading decarbonising industrial clusters and shall be in operation in 2025.
Calor has the experience and the expertise to play a leading role in Northern Ireland’s energy transition and in collaboration with its stakeholders, contributing towards cleaner air and a safe and stable climate for generations to come.
For more information visit: www.calorgas.ie
