With real and meaningful reductions at front of mind, Fulton Hogan is transitioning a number of its asphalt plants in south east Queensland from diesel to natural gas. Rory Bracken, Head of Carbon and Circular Economy – Fulton Hogan, explains how this change will provide greener outcomes for years to come.
Resource use, carbon reduction, biodiversity and environment protection have long been pillars of Fulton Hogan’s efforts to create, connect and care for its local communities in an environmentally conscious way.
The company has also never been shy of setting itself significant goals.
Fulton Hogan builds essential infrastructure connecting communities across Australia and New Zealand. Building and maintaining bridges, airports and ports, and the nation’s communication networks generates carbon.
As demand for resilient infrastructure intensifies, so too does the need for it to be built in ways that are sustainable and in line with a net zero future.
So, while Fulton Hogan continues to build resilient infrastructure, the team understands the need to reduce carbon emissions by creating real reductions across its business.
Keeping it real and finding and funding solutions that reduce emissions in a meaningful way is a core philosophy.
As Rory Bracken, Head of Carbon and Circular Economy – Fulton Hogan explains, the drive to achieve better sustainable outcomes has led to greater internal analysis and improved sustainability results.
“Fulton Hogan has a scope 1 and 2 carbon reduction target of 30 per cent below 2020-21 levels by 2030. As an emissions intensive industry it is incumbent upon us to search out and investigate solutions that could support us to meet that target,” he says.
“Our view of the emissions reduction goal is that we wanted to engineer-out the carbon and look at existing technological opportunities that would reduce our carbon footprint overall.”
Sustainability has long been intrinsic to Fulton Hogan’s operations. So has the perspectives and opinions of its staff, another factor that contributed to Fulton Hogan’s aspiration for greener outcomes.
“Through a number of staff surveys, it has been abundantly clear that there is a desire for greater sustainability outcomes from all of our staff, regardless of age or demographic,” Bracken says.
“Our team genuinely wants to see us doing our bit for the environment, for sustainability and for carbon reduction. They’ve been very clear that they want to see more tangible action on the ground.”
As part of its ambitious target, Fulton Hogan looked internally to identify areas that presented scope for improvement from a carbon reduction and business case perspective. One of the most glaring was the company’s strong network of asphalt manufacturing facilities.
“Some of the biggest emitters within the business are our asphalt plants. Some of our plants, especially in Queensland, continue to run the burner on diesel. Diesel works fine from an asphalt manufacturing perspective, but it’s relatively carbon intensive compared to other options out there,” Bracken says.
Per Business Wire, the global market for asphalt is projected to hit 183 million tonnes by 2027. Asphalt is clearly an essential material for the infrastructure sector. Companies sector-wide are now looking at alternative methods of production to minimise asphalt’s environmental impact.
Fulton Hogan is at the front of the pack, pioneering sustainable change in this space.
Assessment and benefits
Shortly after identifying the opportunity for change, Fulton Hogan underwent a thorough evaluation process, assessing the potential environmental and operational benefits of using alternative fuel sources for its asphalt manufacturing facility in Ormeau, South East Queensland.
As Bracken explains, natural gas was a clear standout quite early.
“Working through all of those checks and balances we discovered that natural gas was as good, if not better than conventional diesel as a fuel option,” he says.
“It’s a less carbon intensive fuel that’s available right now and is ultimately a very practical and direct replacement for diesel in our plants. Most, if not all asphalt plants can accept natural gas with only minor upgrades,” he says.
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Fulton Hogan’s switch to natural gas in Ormeau was only finalised a few months ago and is already providing 25 per cent less carbon intensity during production, Bracken says. The expectation is that natural gas will provide carbon savings in excess of 1600tCO2 annually.
The change also aligns with a number of other Fulton Hogan asphalt manufacturing facilities across Australia, particularly in Victoria.
“Most of our other asphalt plants are already on natural gas. It’s the least carbon intensive fuel currently available that’s cost competitive and practical for our operations,” Bracken says.
“As most of our Queensland facilities run on diesel, natural gas was an obvious place to start.”
He says that on top of its apparent sustainability improvements, natural gas has also provided several operational and safety improvements to Fulton Hogan’s Ormeau site.
“Natural gas is a better solution than diesel and other hydrocarbon-based fuels, because it’s in a pipeline and it’s always on, which removes the risk of running out of capacity and delivery volumes,” Bracken says. “It’s available 24/7, whenever you need it. From a maintenance perspective, you don’t have any of the particulate build-up in the burner either. It also doesn’t take up much room on site, which is important for asphalt manufacturing facilities, where space is always at a premium.”
These benefits have been achieved with little to no disruption to the surrounding site, even throughout installation.
“We’ve never had any real issues with supply or demand. From a historical and long-term perspective, we were very comfortable with making the switch to natural gas because when we turned it on, we knew that we’d have gas readily available,” he says.
“It was a straightforward process, as the infrastructure that’s required for natural gas isn’t that significant.”
Future-proofing
Fulton Hogan has already begun the transition to natural gas at its Narangba site, north of Brisbane, which is the next focus of its fuel transition program. Investigations are underway around transitioning additional facilities where viable, following the success at Ormeau.
As Bracken adds, natural gas could and should be considered a primary transitional fuel source in the future.
“As an existing, lower carbon-intensive fuel for asphalt plants, natural gas is a great opportunity to take up if it’s available.”
Bracken says Fulton Hogan is always willing to change and adapt as technology and methods improve, understanding that natural gas may not always be the answer.
“We understand that natural gas is a transitional fuel providing support in our 2030 reduction and 2050 net zero carbon goals. Fulton Hogan understands that natural gas is not the final solution and that energy efficiency and electrification of processes should continue where feasible. It also understands that where lower emission gases such as biomethane or hydrogen or liquid fuels such as renewable diesel become viable, they should be utilised in preference to non-renewable fuel sources.
“Our transition is ongoing as other fuel sources become viable. There are also other opportunities out there now that are competitive, which could help us to reduce our carbon emissions by over 30,000 tCO² annually,” he says.
This also joins the growing list of Fulton Hogan’s sustainable initiatives, including the use of Australian generated tyre derived materials and utilisation of over 500kWhp solar power installed at facilities around the country, as the company pushes closer towards its goal of being a net zero business by 2050.
“We are also proud of our Victorian Power Purchase Agreement that covers 100 per cent of our facilities across our internal supply chain, from quarries, asphalt plants, bitumen blending, through to our offices and on site grid connected construction facilities. It’s a great thing that we’re doing and last year saved over 8000tCO2 from being emitted into the atmosphere from purchasing green electricity,” Bracken says.
“That’s what I’m most excited about, those tangible opportunities that we can make the most of today, and the sustainable innovations that are coming tomorrow.”
This article was originally published in the November edition of our magazine. To read the magazine, click here.