Reducing CO2 emissions by up to 90% with HVO

Reducing CO2 emissions by up to 90% with HVO

"With HVO, we reduce co2 emissions by up to 90 percent".

Across the UK, mission-critical backup power solutions rely on diesel generators to provide a consistent and reliable source of power should the mains grid fail.

Today, due to environmental agency regulations and self-mandated emissions reduction targets, businesses are increasingly looking towards cleaner alternatives to provide this power.

For Chris Pritchard, Managing Director of AVK – a provider of Rolls-Royce’s mtu gensets – demand for renewable alternatives has increased quickly over the last years. In particular, his customers are interested in HVO (hydrotreated vegetable oil), a paraffinic liquid fuel that can be used to power conventional diesel engines.

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“When it comes to sustainability, our customers primarily ask for HVO at the moment. Since April 1, 2022, the pure use of the previously tax-privileged heating oil for commercial purposes has been banned in the United Kingdom. This puts even more focus on the use of sustainable HVO,” explains Pritchard. “HVO offers, in our view, the most significant savings at the lowest cost in airborne exhaust gas emissions without installing additional exhaust gas after-treatment.”

Partnering to deliver reliable, renewable power

Partnering to deliver reliable, renewable power

For the last 30 years, AVK has been providing generator and UPS solutions for mission-critical services across all major market sectors, ranging from data centres, finance and telecommunications through to industrial and public applications.

Since its founding in 1989, AVK has been trusted by many of the UK's largest blue-chip companies to design, install and maintain 100% power integrity to guarantee their operations when mains power fails, as well as providing a unique capability for the design, manufacture, installation and ongoing maintenance of standby power systems.

AVK recently celebrated the delivery of its 200th Rolls-Royce mtu genset, along with 20 years of partnership. For Pritchard, this longevity is due to Rolls-Royce’s outstanding product features combined with individual customer support. Today, the two are crucially aligned on the societal imperative to enable a net zero carbon future for their customers and the industries they support.

The power of HVO

Image shows diesel fuel being burned on the left and HVO being burned on the right and the lower emissions produced when burning HVO

The power of HVO

To achieve this future, Rolls-Royce is working to ensure that all of its combustion engines are compatible with biofuels, renewable diesel (HVO), hydrogen or other e-fuels produced using green, renewable electricity.

Unlike other alternatives, HVO is already commercially available as a drop-in fuel – meaning its use requires no alterations to engine hardware – and approved for use as a fuel for several of our mtu gensets including the Series 1600 and Series 4000. What’s more, it’s expected to reduce CO2 emissions by up to 90%.

“We recorded data in real-world conditions, obtained from two generator sets, the first fuelled by EN590 fossil fuel diesel and the second generator fuelled by engineered synthetic HVO fuel. The tests showed excellent improvements in the emitted pollutants,” explains Pritchard.

Alongside this, the use of HVO as an alternative to fossil fuels could enable a reduction in particulate emissions of up to 80% and nitrogen oxide emissions by an average of 8%.

Sustainable power of tomorrow

In the future, gas and battery systems for standby power supplies and microgrids could also be a distinct possibility and, once available and economically viable, hydrogen and fuel cell solutions will also accelerate the energy transition. In the meantime, HVO is a great starting point on our journey towards net zero.

How can you avoid CO2 emissions?

In the future, gas and battery systems for standby power supplies and microgrids could also be a distinct possibility.

Once available and economically viable, hydrogen and fuel cell solutions will also accelerate the energy transition. In the meantime, HVO is a great starting point on our journey towards net zero.

HVO calculator

Find out how many tons of CO2 you can save by refueling your mtu engines with HVO with our HVO calculator

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