The National Ploughing Championships, the largest event in rural Ireland’s calendar finally returned to its full program of events in 2022 following 2 years without welcoming the public to attend.

The three-day outdoor event returned to Co. Laois this September, accommodating a total of 277,000 visitors and 1,700 exhibitors on a site of 115 acres. That takes a lot of energy!

In order to keep the lights on, and to keep both exhibitors and attendees happy, the National Ploughing Association (NPA) who run the event manage a network of generators of various capacities across the event site.

Aldi, one of Ireland’s major supermarket chains, requires a massive amount of energy to run its on-site program, including a baking competition which requires 40 ovens cooking at the same time (yes, on a temporary site, in a field!).

With the variety of needs across the site and the scale of the entire operation, event organisers have traditionally operated generators on diesel fuel as this has been the most practical way of efficiently distributing power.

In 2022, for the first time, in line with their sustainability goals, the NPA made the decision to go fossil-free on site and look for a viable alternative to the diesel used in previous years.

The NPA team approached Certa to discuss the most suitable energy alternative available to power an event site of this magnitude while also providing a major reduction in the event’s carbon footprint.

In conjunction with Certa, the NPA elected for GD+ HVO Biofuel as the most viable alternative energy source. HVO biofuel is a direct drop-in replacement for diesel, meaning that no upgrade or replacement of existing generators or associated infrastructure was required.

HVO biofuel afforded a carbon emissions reduction of up to 90% when compared to previous years when diesel was used.

Tom Kelly, Site Manager at the Ploughing Championships 2022 said there was ‘no issues at all with changing from regular diesel to HVO fuel’ and is looking forward to employing the biofuel in the coming years at the event.

To find out how we can help you dramatically reduce your commercial carbon footprint, speak to our commercial HVO expert, Laura Byrne on 0858072040 or email [email protected]