Volvo city buses ready for HVO and Euro 6 engines for city buses and intercity buses have now been certified to run on HVO, a renewable fuel that replaces regular diesel. The fuel copes with storage and low temperatures in the same way as regular diesel, but reduces CO2 emissions by up to 90 per cent.
The engines that have been certified to use Hydrogenated Vegetable Oils (HVO) are the 5-litre and 8-litre Euro 6 engines; besides Volvo Buses’ 5-litre and 8-litre Euro 6 engines are certified to the paraffinic fuels CEN TS 15940 standard, which in addition to HVO also covers tall oil diesel and gas-to-liquid (GTL) fuels. Volvo Buses also approves HVO as a fuel for all buses with Euro 5 engines, with no reduction in service interval. This means that the majority of newer Volvo buses can now run on renewable fuel with very low environmental impact.
“This is an important step that gives customers who have access to HVO the opportunity to greatly reduce their climate impact while keeping the same high level of reliability and availability,” says Edward Jobson, Environmental Director for Volvo Buses.
HVO is made from renewable materials such as vegetable and animal oils, from sources such as rapeseed or slaughter waste, and is a direct replacement for regular diesel fuel. It reduces carbon emissions by between 30 and 90 per cent compared to regular diesel, depending on the raw material. Otherwise, HVO has the same properties as regular diesel, such as storage life and cold-resistance, and the two fuels can be mixed. HVO can be distributed by existing fuel depots using the same types of tanks and nozzles.
Volvo’s approval of HVO is backed by extensive field trials and careful studies of the effects of the fuel on engine performance and reliability.
