Inspenet, July 15, 2023.
Volvo Cars has taken an important step by announcing that it will use renewable fuels instead of traditional fossil fuel for the majority of sea voyages using container ships carrying thousands of containers of production material to supply its factories in different countries around the world. world.
By being the first automaker to implement this change, the company will achieve an immediate reduction of approximately 55,000 tons of CO2 emissions from intercontinental shipping in one year. Thanks to the use of renewable fuel, CO2 emissions will be reduced by at least 84% compared to fossil fuel.
Renewable fuels to reduce emissions
The fuel used, fatty acid methyl esters (FAME), is obtained from renewable and sustainable sources such as used cooking oil. It is important to note that no raw material related to palm oil or its production is used in this process.
Likewise, Volvo will implement renewable fuel in the shipments of maritime containers that transport production material to its manufacturing plants in Europe and America, as well as in the global distribution of spare parts through maritime containers.
“Renewable fuel is not the end game in removing CO2 from the world’s shipping needs,” said Javier Varela, Director of Operations and Deputy Managing Director of Volvo Cars. “However, this initiative shows that we can act now and implement solutions that achieve significant results while we wait for long-term technological alternatives.”
“We do not see this initiative as a competitive advantage,” adds Varela. “On the contrary, we also want to galvanize other automakers into action to increase demand for carbon-efficient shipping and establish renewable fuels as a medium-term solution that works. We all have a responsibility to act.”
Volvo has collaborated with Maersk , Kuehne+Nagel and DB Schenker on this initiative. As of June 1, 2023, these suppliers have switched to renewable fuels to power all container transports carried out for Volvo Cars.
When renewable fuel is not available in a specific shipment, the aforementioned logistics partners use Volvo’s renewable fuel allocation for another transportation route for a different customer, thus maintaining the overall reduction in fossil fuel use. This approach, called mass balancing, is regularly audited by third parties. In addition, the renewable fuel used is certified and does not compete with food crops, thus complying with the EU Renewable Energy Directive, according to Volvo.
“We are continually exploring sustainability opportunities in all aspects of our supply chain and across our business in general,” Varela said. “Our list of initiatives continues to grow as we work to achieve our ambition to become a climate neutral company by 2040.”
“Our ambition is to reduce our lifecycle carbon footprint per car by 40% between 2018 and 2025, which requires a 25% reduction in operational emissions, including logistics. important steps towards our climate neutral ambitions.”
Source: https://www.renewableenergymagazine.com/biofuels/volvo-cars-switches-to-renewable-fuels-for-20230705
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