So I've found that a small fuel / oil retailer within reach of me has started to make HVO (AKA XTL or Renewable Diesel) road diesel available to the general public from a retail pump payable by credit card.
They claim theirs is entirely sourced from waste oils, is made to EN 15940, and it's currently about 10p a litre more expensive than standard diesel at my local Esso or Morrisons (the price has remained a lot more stable than general diesel prices for the last 6 months or so). They claim their particular supply chain results in a 90% CO2 saving over regular diesel.
BMW, VAG, Renault, Volvo and Stellantis have all given type approvals to at least some recent diesel vehicles for HVO. Essentially if your fuel flap says 'XTL' on it, your car is approved. Skoda Ireland have been promoting it, in partnership with Certa stations over there. The two supposedly subsidised HVO to make it the same price as regular diesel. I understand that BMW are now supplying some new diesel vehicles with HVO as their first fill.
My car isn't on that list - a nearly 9 year old Honda 1.6 i-DTEC. It's well out of warranty and from my background reading I'm sufficiently convinced there's little risk in giving it a go. This isn't like trying to run a common rail engine on pure veg oil or FAME biodiesel, as HVO is so chemically similar to ordinary diesel.
Assuming the claims about similar performance and fuel efficiency hold up, I think this will cost me a penny a mile extra to run over normal diesel, with an occasional round trip I wouldn't otherwise be doing. On balance I think it may be worth it - and the idea of running a low net CO2 internal combustion engine vehicle in the long term appeals to me. It seems a small reduction in NOx and particulates can also be expected.
Looking up some figures, it's clear to me that it can't be a magic CO2 bullet for diesel in general. There is a limited supply of waste oils and competition from the aviation industry where the same raw materials can be made into renewable aviation fuel. There simply isn't enough waste oil in the world to scale this up to meet all demand for diesel. Over a certain threshold it would be necessary to use virgin oil crops as feedstock and that would be less environmentally friendly.
It also strikes me that this isn't the cheapest way to reduce my car CO2 usage in the long term. Running costs are lower for electric cars than diesels running on HVO, though I have noticed that if the government get rid of the relevant taxes, the fuel costs per mile on similar cars would be remarkably similar on diesel and electric cars. Currently HVO is taxed as a 'heavy oil' for road use, the same as ordinary diesel.
I know that some fuel card users will have had the chance to run on HVO, as may some of you that might live near the few retail stations (or truck stops) that sell it. Anyone given it a go or regularly running on it?
They claim theirs is entirely sourced from waste oils, is made to EN 15940, and it's currently about 10p a litre more expensive than standard diesel at my local Esso or Morrisons (the price has remained a lot more stable than general diesel prices for the last 6 months or so). They claim their particular supply chain results in a 90% CO2 saving over regular diesel.
BMW, VAG, Renault, Volvo and Stellantis have all given type approvals to at least some recent diesel vehicles for HVO. Essentially if your fuel flap says 'XTL' on it, your car is approved. Skoda Ireland have been promoting it, in partnership with Certa stations over there. The two supposedly subsidised HVO to make it the same price as regular diesel. I understand that BMW are now supplying some new diesel vehicles with HVO as their first fill.
My car isn't on that list - a nearly 9 year old Honda 1.6 i-DTEC. It's well out of warranty and from my background reading I'm sufficiently convinced there's little risk in giving it a go. This isn't like trying to run a common rail engine on pure veg oil or FAME biodiesel, as HVO is so chemically similar to ordinary diesel.
Assuming the claims about similar performance and fuel efficiency hold up, I think this will cost me a penny a mile extra to run over normal diesel, with an occasional round trip I wouldn't otherwise be doing. On balance I think it may be worth it - and the idea of running a low net CO2 internal combustion engine vehicle in the long term appeals to me. It seems a small reduction in NOx and particulates can also be expected.
Looking up some figures, it's clear to me that it can't be a magic CO2 bullet for diesel in general. There is a limited supply of waste oils and competition from the aviation industry where the same raw materials can be made into renewable aviation fuel. There simply isn't enough waste oil in the world to scale this up to meet all demand for diesel. Over a certain threshold it would be necessary to use virgin oil crops as feedstock and that would be less environmentally friendly.
It also strikes me that this isn't the cheapest way to reduce my car CO2 usage in the long term. Running costs are lower for electric cars than diesels running on HVO, though I have noticed that if the government get rid of the relevant taxes, the fuel costs per mile on similar cars would be remarkably similar on diesel and electric cars. Currently HVO is taxed as a 'heavy oil' for road use, the same as ordinary diesel.
I know that some fuel card users will have had the chance to run on HVO, as may some of you that might live near the few retail stations (or truck stops) that sell it. Anyone given it a go or regularly running on it?
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