Sustainable touring: is there a role for HVO fuel?
The drive away from internal combustion engines towards electric has left tour transportation somewhat behind. Battery powered electric vehicles are not yet sufficiently advanced to provide a solution for splitter van, sleeper bus, or truck touring: they simply don’t have the range or a developed enough charging infrastructure to cope with itinerant tour routings.
As a result, tour transportation companies have been stuck in a fossil fuel rut, upgrading vehicles to meet latest emissions standards (currently Euro 6), tinkering with business practices to reduce their carbon footprint, but unable to take the leap towards sustainability where it matters most.
The advent of HVO fuel may be about to change this by offering tours a significant stepping stone on the road to sustainability.
Hydro-treated Vegetable Oil (HVO) is a second-generation bio-fuel that meets the European EN 15940 regulation and that produces significantly reduced emissions of CO2 (up to -90%), NOx (up to -27%), Carbon Monoxide and particulate matter (up to -85%) compared to mineral diesel fuel. Critically, while not all diesel engines can use it, in the growing number that can, HVO is a direct diesel replacement: no modification needs to be made to the engine; HVO can even be mixed with pre-existing diesel in the tank.
So what are the drawbacks?
HVO is more expensive than mineral diesel – between 20% to 40% at the forecourt. And for many splitter van and sleeper bus tours on a tight budget this additional cost may not be feasible. HVO can also be hard to find, with a relatively small network of supply currently available across Europe. Most tours simply can’t afford the time to drive potentially hours off route to refuel. Finally, its not a silver bullet; it still produces emissions (albeit quite a bit less than diesel) and there are potential issues with ensuring the oil itself if produced sustainably (notably some is produced from alternative feedstocks such as palm oil).
However, it is a mistake to be black and white about the value of HVO. Battery powered electric vehicles are a long way from being suitable for live music touring and HVO offers a stepping stone technology to help us move toward sustainability in a meaningful way in the interim. The supply network is steadily growing and as demand and the volume of production increases the cost will come down.
