New Volkswagen diesels will work with emissions-reducing paraffinic fuels
Biological residual and waste materials are added to the diesel to make it more eco-friendly.
Volkswagen says its latest generation diesel engines are approved for using paraffinic fuels.
Approval has been given for any Volkswagen four-cylinder diesel engine delivered since the end of June this year to use paraffinic diesel fuels in accordance with European standard EN 15940.
There are a wide variety of paraffinic fuels, which use biological components to reduce harmful emissions.
One such example is fuels made from biological residual and waste materials such as hydrotreated vegetable oil (HVO) . These vegetable oils are converted into hydrocarbons by a reaction with hydrogen and can be added to the diesel fuel in any quantities.
These HVOs can be used as a sole source of fuel, or can be added to diesel to cut emissions.
Volkswagen says the maximum environmental benefit of these fuels comes when they’re made from biological residual and waste materials such as used cooking oil and sawdust.
Many HVO fuels are already available on the market, but the German firm says it expects availability to increase across Europe to a market share of up to 30 per cent in the next 10 years.
Thomas Garbe, head of petrol and diesel fuels at Volkswagen, said: “Through the use of environmentally friendly fuels in the approved Volkswagen models, we are making it possible for customers throughout Europe to significantly reduce their CO2 emissions as soon as the fuel is locally available.
“For example, the use of paraffinic fuels is a sensible additional option particularly for companies with a mixed fleet made up of models with electric and conventional drives.”
Many fuel providers across Europe already offer diesel that has had some paraffinic diesel added, including Diesel R33, V-Power Diesel, OMV MaxMotion, and Aral Ultimate Diesel.
