European logistics firm Duvenbeck switches part of its fleet to 100% renewable diesel
The official approval for the sale of 100 percent renewable diesel—also known as hydrotreated vegetable oil (HVO)—has been available in Germany since the end of May, and the Duvenbeck Group announced June 24 that it has been one of the first logistics companies to secure its quota of the fuel in order to switch parts of its truck fleet to normal operations with HVO100.
Duvenbeck is one of the leading logistics companies in Europe with more than 6,500 employees working at 40 business sites in 11 different countries.
According to the company, Duvenbeck was the first German logistics company to test the biobased fuel in daily practical situations over a fairly long period as part of a pilot project.
The experience gained was “thoroughly positive,” Duvenbeck stated.
“Having HVO in our trucks’ tanks helps us to significantly reduce our own CO2 footprint and that of our customers,” said Duvenbeck CEO Hakan Bicil. “Using HVO as a replacement for fossil diesel fuel supports our plans to neutralize the climate-relevant emissions from operating our fleet by the year 2040. In addition to trucks powered by batteries and drive systems using biogas, we can now use another alternative, which is effective immediately, to reduce our greenhouse-gas emissions in road-transport traffic within our existing fleet.”
Duvenbeck’s professional drivers are also convinced by the new fuel.
“Trucks fueled by HVO are much quieter and provide the same performance as diesel vehicles,” said Bernd Reining, the vehicle-fleet manager at Duvenbeck. “And there is no typical diesel smell when you fill up the tank. Our drivers have a good feeling that they are on the road without damaging the climate.”
It is not necessary to refit vehicles to use HVO.
Reining recommended, however, that companies obtain approval for the vehicles to use HVO from the truck suppliers.
Old diesel residual material at company fueling points should be removed before any HVO is accepted.
HVO is made from biogenic raw materials such as used cooking oils, plant and animal fats as well as organic elements from household waste.
These raw materials are hydrotreated into combustible hydrocarbons.
Although HVO emits up to 90 percent fewer CO2 emissions in comparison with fossil diesel fuel, there is no difference between the two regarding taxes in Germany.
“A maturity-level model forms the basis for our CO2 management, and it enables us to keep our eye on the status of our emissions at any time so that we’re able to derive further reduction measures from it,” said Carsten Sanders, the project manager for sustainable drive systems at Duvenbeck. “Thanks to the introduction of HVO, we’ve taken a significant step along our journey towards climate neutrality.”
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