Primagaz Belgium drastically reduces CO2 emissions from secondary transport thanks to HVO diesel

What is HVO Diesel?

HVO Diesel, or HVO100, stands for 'Hydrotreated Vegetable Oil' and is a second-generation biofuel. It is made from waste streams of the food industry and is completely fossil-free. HVO fuel can be used in any diesel engine, either pure or in combination with, for example, fossil diesel.

What are the benefits of HVO100?

HVO100 can reduce greenhouse gases (GHGs) during the fuel lifecycle by up to 90% compared to fossil diesel.

Some facts & figures about HVO100 compared to fossil diesel:

• 33% fewer emissions of small dust particles
• 9% fewer emissions of nitrogen oxides
• 30% fewer emissions of hydrocarbons
• 24% fewer emissions of carbon monoxide

Although the price of HVO Diesel is currently higher than fossil diesel, the price gap between them has shown a decreasing trend in recent months.

Primagaz Belgium case

To achieve a reduction in CO2 emissions in secondary transport (transport from the depot to the customer), Primagaz set up a pilot project from November 2022 to April 2023 with one of the transporters.

What does the pilot entail?:

• Installation of a 5,000-litre tank system to refuel HVO Diesel at the transporter's depot. Primagaz opted for a shared investment in the tank (50/50) with the transporter. This approach lowered investment costs for Primagaz itself and provided an opportunity to strengthen the partnership for the future.
• Three bulk trucks drove about 65,000 km during this period using HVO Diesel (which represents 7% of the total bulk truck kilometres during that same period). This resulted in a CO2 saving of 0.5 kg CO2 per tonne. Thus, a total reduction of 14 tonnes of CO2 was achieved during the pilot.

What does the future hold?

Since March 2024, a cylinder truck has also been running on HVO Diesel, and considering the limited investment cost and simple transition, Primagaz aims to expand the truck fleet using HVO Diesel in the near future. Currently, there are a limited number of fuel stations in Belgium distributing HVO Diesel, but this coverage is expected to expand in the future. However, pending this expansion, the preference remains to provide the solution directly at the transporter's site.

Secondary transport at Primagaz Belgium currently accounts for about 1.4 million km/year for cylinders and bulk combined, and the ambition by December 2024 is to convert 50% of this to HVO. To achieve this, negotiations are currently ongoing with two transporters to extend the number of HVO partnerships in the future. In this way, we can contribute to the reduction of CO2 emissions and achieve a CO2 saving of 270 g per km.