Guinness announces plans for zero-emission transport fleet

The company says their ambition is to have their entire quality team be 100% emission-free by 2030

Wed, 12 Jan, 2022 - 12:03

Greg Murphy

Guinness has announced plans for their quality fleet to be 70% zero-emission by 2025 with the first vehicles rolling out from this summer.

The company says their ambition is to have their entire quality fleet, who travel to pubs and restaurants across Ireland, be 100% emission-free by 2030.

Guinness already has a zero-emission vehicle being used at its St James' Gate brewery in Dublin, which this week began trials to transport bulk beer in the Guinness tankers to Dublin Port.

Guinness zero-emission vehicle which is being used in a trial this week to transport bulk beer in the Guinness tankers from St James’s Gate to Dublin Port.

The brand says it will also be adding four zero-emission trucks to its fleet later this year which will be used in trial deliveries of kegs to hospitality spots in the city.

CLIMATE & SUSTAINABILITY HUB

Barry O'Sullivan, managing director of Diageo Ireland says Guinness is committed to reducing "indirect emissions" and want to play a key role in sustainable transport in the industry.

“We’re really pleased to announce that we will be introducing the first zero-emission vehicles into our Quality fleet from this summer," Mr O'Sullivan said.

"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.”

Guinness Transport through the ages

1759 - accommodation for stabling 12 horses was part of the 1759 lease
1873 - Jetty built at Victoria Quay to allow barges to travel up and down the Liffey
1877 - St James’s Gate railway completed with a link to Kingsbridge (Heuston) station 1901 - first motor vehicles used in the brewery
1913 - first Guinness owned ship purchased to travel from Dublin Port to UK
1951 - bulk road tankers were introduced to deliver Guinness in bulk to holding tanks in bottler’s premises around Ireland.
1953 - transportable tanks (14 barrel metal containers) were introduced to deliver Guinness in bulk to the Cross Channel trade via the Guinness ships.
1970s - further liquid bulk tankers were added, known as ‘silver bullets’ 1961 - horses and barges last used
1993 - Guinness owned ships last used
2021 – First zero-emission vehicle used in the brewery