Renewable diesel in the form of hydrogenated vegetable oils (HVO) increased by 66 percent in 2016 and now account for two-thirds of all road transportation biofuels used in Sweden. The use of pure HVO, HVO100, increased dramatically and accounted for 2.7 percent of the total road transportation fuel market 2016 to become the third largest fuel type according to a new report from the Swedish Energy Agency (Energimyndigheten).
The report “Drivmedel 2026: Mängder, komponeter och Ursprung rapporterade enligt drivmedelslagen och hållbarhetslagen” details the amounts, components, and source of transportation fuels as reported to the Energy Agency by around 60 fuel producers and distributors active on the Swedish market in accordance with national and EU legislation.
According to the report, the total combined use of HVO, blended and HVO100, has reduced greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 2.8 million tonnes. This corresponds to 73 percent of total biofuels combined climate benefit.
HVO can be used directly in existing diesel engines and blended with conventional fossil diesel in high proportion, which means that demand for HVO increases rapidly and emissions are reduced efficiently. With the government’s proposal to increase renewable fuel and diesel fuel intake, demand for HVO will increase further, commented Fredrik Törnqvist, Head of Industry Policy at Neste AB, the Swedish subsidiary of Finnish oil refiner and renewable fuel producer Neste.
HVO100 third largest fuel type
The report shows that as a blend with conventional fossil diesel, HVO is popular. Of 21 percent renewable fuel blended into fossil diesel 17 percent was in the form of HVO whereas 4 percent was a conventional Fatty Acid Methyl-Ester (FAME) biodiesel. This meant that emissions from diesel fuel decreased by about 15 percent. The government has recently put forward proposals that include renewable fuel incentives to reduce emissions from diesel by 21 percent by 2020.
Figures from the report show that the use of pure HVO, HVO100, has seen a dramatic year-on-year increase since its introduction onto the Swedish transportation market. In 2014, HVO100 accounted for 19 GWh increasing almost nine-fold to 170 GWh in 2015.
However, in 2016, it jumped fifteen-fold to reach 2.6 TWh accounting for 2.7 percent of the total transportation fuel market. This makes HVO100 already the third largest fuel type, after gasoline and diesel on the Swedish market.
