There’s more than one way to peel an orange when it comes to reducing CO2 emissions. Even if, hypothetically speaking, sales of new cars with combustion engines are banned starting tomorrow, we’re still faced with a major problem. BMW estimates there are over 250 million existing vehicles in Europe alone. For obvious reasons, you can’t just take them off the road and force people to buy EVs. But using alternative fuels could be a good compromise.
That’s why HVO100 is starting to make sense. If you haven’t heard of this term, it refers to a fuel made entirely from hydrotreated vegetable oil. From January 2025, all diesel BMWs manufactured in Germany will be initially filled at the factory with MY Renewable Diesel. This fuel, produced by Finnish company Neste, is much cleaner than the old dirty diesel. Compared to traditional fuel based on fossil raw materials, it cuts greenhouse gas emissions by 90% well to wheel.
The luxury brand has been using HVO100 since March 2023, filling logistics trucks with this type of renewable diesel. Neste produces the fuel from various wastes, such as cooking oils, residues, and other types of renewable raw materials. BMW has a list of diesel cars that are compatible with HVO100. All of them were built in March 2015 or later, with engines developed in Steyr, Austria. Most diesels were also manufactured there. You can access the page on the company’s website.
BMW CEO Oliver Zipse describes HVO100 as a “high-quality diesel replacement with up to 90% lower CO2e emissions in the overall balance sheet.” Demand for diesel in Europe continues to drop in the aftermath of the Volkswagen Group’s messy scandal. According to the European Automobile Manufacturers’ Association (ACEA), diesel had a market share of just 10.7% in the EU+EFTA+UK region in the first 10 months of the year. Through October, purely electric cars were considerably more popular, with a market share of 14.8%.
Source: BMW
First published by https://www.bmwblog.com
Source: BMW BLOG
