Bentley Renews Carbon Neutral Certification

Since first being certified as carbon neutral in 2019, Bentley has continued to invest in further emissions reduction, with the result that the use of off-sets has decreased by 81% over the same period. Thanks to focused actions by colleagues and the effects of the pandemic on reducing business travel, Bentley’s carbon footprint for operations has dropped from 17,482 tCO2e in 2019 to 3,341 tCO2e in 2020. This in spite of a widened scope of measurement to include all business travel and three satellite sites in the local area.

Long-term investment and forward planning have ensured that 100% of the electricity and gas used by Bentley is now renewable – being generated either by the 7.7.MW solar array on site in Crewe, or bought in as 100% Renewable Energy Guarantees of Origin (ReGo) certified electricity and 100% Renewable Gas Guarantees of Origin (RGGO) certified gas. At the same time, investment in three new energy-efficient 5.5 MW boilers has also helped to significantly reduce power consumption and make green gas use more efficient.

This green energy is not only now fuelling the factory operations. Thanks to the installation of 130 charging points around the site, it is also now charging future Bentley hybrid and BEV models throughout the research and development phase – and it is also helping to power colleagues’ journeys with a range of zero emissions and hybrid vehicles now available through the company car scheme.

Local logistics have also been considered, with the installation of a 34,000 litre ‘Green D+” renewable fuels tank on site to allow local HGV vehicles and other non-electric site traffic to run on fuel that reduces tailpipe CO2 emissions from logistics vehicles by over 86% compared to regular diesel. Conventional fuel usage by fleet vehicles and generators continues to be compensated with high quality Verified Carbon Standard offsets (Verra).