DB reaches HVO biofuel target two years ahead of schedule

With 17 million liters of biofuel, HVO Deutsche Bahn is using twice as much biofuel in its diesel locomotives at the beginning of 2023 than originally estimated. Thus, their goal of using HVO fuel by 2025 has already been achieved. The company cites the successful conversion of diesel filling stations to HVO as the main reason for its progress. Railway Supply magazine writes about this with reference to RailTech.

HVO is a biofuel made from waste and leftover raw materials and stands for hydrotreated vegetable oil. Because it is non-fossil-based and produced using clean electricity, HVO fuel’s CO2 emissions are 90 percent lower than diesel.

The decision to phase out diesel fuel at DB has already been made. By 2027, DB will invest a total of around 1.5 billion euros in the expansion of new drive systems and fuels, and thus step by step towards environmentally neutral railways.

More support for the Serbian railway industry

According to the head of the Diesel Exit Rail program at DB, HVO is sufficient for the company’s operations. In Germany, DB consumes about 250 million liters of diesel fuel. The total production capacity of HVO in 2021 was about 4 billion liters. DB estimates that there will be enough green HVO for at least all of their own operations, as well as for other market participants.

Railway news you might have missed:

Alstom and KTZ signed a cooperation agreement