The transport sector remains one of the most challenging to decarbonise. While electrifying transport is crucial in helping to achieve this, it will require substantial investments in new electric vehicles and charging infrastructure. Furthermore, the possibility of electrifying long-distance HGVs and agricultural/plant machinery also remains in question.

This is where renewable fuels like biodiesel, ethanol, and biomethane come into play, as they can significantly reduce transport emissions. However, adopting these fuels still requires investment in either new machinery, supply chains, or engine modifications.

However, a new renewable biofuel, Hydrotreated Vegetable Oil (HVO), offers an alternative solution. HVO can directly replace diesel while reducing CO2 emissions by 90%. While still in early days in Ireland, it is expected to make a substantial contribution to reducing emissions in the transport sector.

The Irish Farmers Journal recently attended the launch of a new terminal in the Port of Cork, Ringaskiddy, which will be used for importing HVO into Ireland at scale by UK-based Green Biofuels Ltd.

What is HVO

HVO is a sustainable biofuel that directly replaces diesel, requiring no engine modifications, while reducing CO2 emissions by 90%. It’s made from waste materials such as animal fats and used vegetable oil and is certified as sustainable.

HVO can be used straight or be mixed/blended with regular diesel to help meet the requirement of 20% biofuel blending in Ireland by 2030.

Unlike conventional biodiesel, hydrogen is used as a catalyst instead of methanol, which makes HVO a cleaner-burning fuel and gives a shelf life of 10 years. GBF’s brand of HVO, Gd+ HVO also reduces particulates by up to 85% and nitrogen oxides by up to a 30%.

Production

The HVO imported into Ireland is sourced from Rotterdam, the Netherlands, where it is produced by the Neste Corporation in its refinery. Neste recently made a significant investment of €1.9bn into expanding its production capacity in Rotterdam. Its current production capacity of 1.4m tonnes (mt) is the largest in Europe.

New import terminal

The biofuel terminal in Ringaskiddy is based at a site which sat vacant for approximately 10 years before being purchased by GBF in 2022. GBF invested a total of €30m into the 6ac site.

It comprises of four 9m litre storage tanks and one 15m litre storage tank which will store HVO. These tanks were originally used to store molasses, which was then converted into citric acid by Pfizer.

There are also two 4.5m litre storage tanks which will be used to store waste feedstock such as tallow and vegetable oil. The waste will be exported to the refining facility in Rotterdam to be turned into HVO. This will introduce competition among existing biodiesel and biogas producers in Ireland, many of whom use this feedstock.

As part of the redevelopment, new bunding was constructed, new pipework was installed, and extensive safety updates, engineering work, and concrete works were also carried out.

New offices were constructed to accommodate the site’s four permanent employees, and a 24/7 refuelling station was commissioned. The entire site operates off the grid, relying on its own generators powered by HVO.

GBF also reached an agreement with the Port of Cork to use a dedicated jetty with a 259m berth. This jetty will be used for direct pumping of HVO to and from vessels. Using its strategic location, the terminal will serve as an import facility to meet the growing demand for HVO in Ireland and as an overseas supply hub.

Plans for Ireland

In an interview with the Irish Farmers Journal, Magnus Hammick, chief executive officer of Green Biofuels Limited UK, and Peter O’Brien, the ROI manager of GBF Ireland Ltd, shared their plans for Ireland.

Having established its presence in Ireland officially last year, GBF currently imports 60m litres of HVO into the country. Notable companies like DPD, Microsoft, Microsoft, Lidl, Amazon, which include several data centres with backup generators have already made the switch to HVO.

However, within the next five years, GBF aims to supply 50% of Ireland’s diesel requirements with HVO.

Magnus emphasised the importance of the Irish market, stating: “We see Ireland as a really important market. While the overall market size may be small, it provides an advantage as Ireland can quickly lead the way in decarbonising its energy use within the EU.”

The company’s aim is to encourage businesses that use diesel engines to switch to HVO as an interim solution to reduce GHG emissions.

They have big plans for Ireland and aim to be supplying around 50% of the country’s diesel needs withing five years.

According to the CSO, around 3.3bn litres of diesel is used in Ireland each year. Around 1.1bn litres of marked gas oil (green diesel) is also used in Ireland each year.

According to the Association of Farm & Forestry Contractors in Ireland, over half of total green diesel use, or 550m litres is used in agriculture.

One litre of diesel creates around 2.68kg of CO2, so typical green diesel usage in agriculture produces around 1.45m tonnes (mt) of CO2 each year. Replacing this with HVO could reduce emissions by 90%, or roughly 1.3mt of CO2.

Under our legally binding 25% emissions reduction target for Ireland, which will see the sector reduce annual emissions by 5.75mt of CO2 equivalent by 2030, replacing green diesel with HVO is a relatively easy win.

The challenge, of course, is cost. HVO carries a premium of 15-20% over regular diesel.

Considering green diesel is available at a discounted rate to diesel, a significant subsidy would be needed for farmers to make it viable for them to switch to HVO.

However, Mangus Hammick explains that HVO could be a viable option for farmers if they could benefit from their emissions reductions, particularly when supplying meat or dairy processors.

These processors have an obligation to reduce scope III emissions, which typically occur on farms.