Volvo is testing HVO Biodiesel in a fleet of Gothenburg Taxis

Volvo is running a trial in Sweden with 100 Gothenburg Taxis using HVO Biodiesel, a renewable fuel which can be used in place of fossil diesel.

The world and his dog may have fallen out with diesel-engined cars, but there are millions of diesel cars on the road which aren’t going to go away any time soon. So what’s the answer?

One potential solution is to stop using fossil diesel fuels and instead use biodiesel, although normal biodiesel does have a problem with degrading quite rapidly.

But one answer could be HVO Biodiesel (Hydrated Vegetable Oil) which uses hydrogen as a catalyst in its creation, rather than methanol which is used in normal biodiesel, which leads to a hydrogenation process rather than esterification, and that means oxygen is removed from the fuel preventing oxidation and deterioration of the fuel.

HVO is already being used as an alternative to Red Diesel, and it can be mixed with fossil diesel to improve emissions, but now Volvo is trialling pure HVO as an alternative fuel in a fleet of 100 Volvo V90 taxis in Gothenburg.

It’s said that using HVO can reduce CO2 emissions by up to 90 per cent (although a chunk of that reduction seems to come from factoring in the CO2 absorbed by growing the crops, rather than actual tail pipe emissions), as well as reductions in NOx and particulate matter.

Volvo say the test with Gothenburg Taxis will help them decide if pure HVO100 can be used in their road cars.