Whether it is alternative drives or climate-friendly fuels: We are focussing on alternatives to conventional diesel as part of our Mission Zero to climate neutrality. The latest example is HVO100, a sustainable diesel substitute that also benefits our environmentally conscious customers.

Carbon-neutral transports and clean logistics – the stated goal of our Mission Zero sustainability initiative is to become a carbon-neutral company by 2040. Our vehicle fleet plays a key role in this. We have already purchased electric trucks, vans and cars and are also working intensively on hydrogen drives. “When it comes to reducing our CO2 footprint, we’re absolutely open to new technologies,” says Christian Hackl, Head of Central Fleet Management. “However, there are still major hurdles to overcome in the field of electric mobility, especially for heavy commercial vehicles: high acquisition costs, long delivery times, short range, poor network expansion and patchy charging infrastructure. This is slowing down the conversion of the fleet to electric drives enormously.” But now we can take a big step towards more climate protection on a shorter route. This is made possible by the biogenic fuel HVO100, which has been approved in Germany since mid-April.

Sustainable fuel: HVO100

HVO100 is a sustainable, synthetically produced diesel alternative that requires no petroleum at all. Instead, it is produced from certified sustainable residues and waste materials. Most commonly these are used cooking fats from commercial kitchens, but wood residues and cellulose waste can also be recycled. “It is important to us that all the raw materials are unsuitable for use as food,” says Marcus Wieser, Head of Sustainability Germany. The abbreviation HVO stands for Hydrotreated Vegetable Oils. The number after it stands for 100% pure fuel from renewable sources. This climate-friendly alternative can perfectly replace conventional diesel in everyday use: It can be filled up at conventional filling stations and can be used by almost all diesel trucks without any technical modifications or conversions.

Up to 90% less CO2

Like petroleum-based diesel, HVO100 produces carbon dioxide when burned. However, only as much carbon is burned as was previously sequestered during the growth of the plants that form the feedstock for HVO. As a result, HVO100 is virtually carbon-neutral, and CO2 emissions are immediately reduced by up to 90 percent. The fuel also reduces local emissions: Compared with conventional diesel, particulates are reduced by up to a third, hydrocarbons by 30 percent, carbon monoxide by around a quarter and nitrogen oxides by nine percent. “HVO100 is a very good solution, at least as a bridging technology, with which we can make an important contribution to climate and environmental protection in the short term,” explains Sabine Geis, Head of Sustainability. “Within our group of companies, Quehenberger Logistics has been using HVO100 instead of diesel very successfully for some time. Now we have also secured almost three million litres of HVO100 for Germany, immediately after the fuel was approved.” We feed the HVO100 into our own filling stations in Germany. The three million litres will cover around half of the consumption of conventional diesel at our filling stations in the second half of 2024. We will use the new fuel primarily for our own vehicle fleet, thus ensuring that our customers can also benefit from climate-friendly transport and improve their environmental footprint.

Customers benefit

In practice, the transports actually carried out with HVO100 are invoiced via a certified digital process and credited to the customers who have booked climate-friendly transports. “With this so-called insetting model as a book & claim solution, we can calculate the CO2 impact of each individual general cargo shipment,” explains Sabine Geis. “The process also allows us to make transports completely carbon-neutral.” The benefits of using HVO100 for climate protection and one’s own carbon footprint are creating a demand for it: “There is enormous interest, especially among our major customers, in significantly reducing the CO2 footprint of their transports with this climate-friendly fuel,” says Jörg Rotthowe, Managing Director Road Germany. However, HVO100 is currently only available in limited quantities.

Using all options

“HVO100 is an important building block in the decarbonisation of road freight transport,” concludes Marcus Wieser. “However, the diesel substitute cannot be the only means to achieve this, a mix of different technologies is needed. With alternative drive systems and climate-friendly fuels, we will continue on our path to climate neutrality and at the same time support our customers who are pursuing similar goals.”