What is HVO? We’ve heard a lot about it lately, but do we really know what it is?
HVO stands for Hydrotreated Vegetable Oil, a diesel-like fuel that can be produced without the use of fossil fuels through a hydrogenation process of vegetable oils or animal fats, resulting in a synthetic diesel fuel free of aromatics and polyaromatics, which offers significant environmental benefits.
It’s not a zero-carbon fuel, but it promises to reduce CO2 emissions by 60 to 90%. It’s already commercially available and can be used in latest-generation engines designed for HVO biofuel or in engines adapted to it with a few fairly simple modifications. These include checking the fuel system for compatibility and, if necessary, replacing components such as gaskets, fuel lines, and filters.
This means that the future of combustion engines, already defined by the European Commission’s decision to ban the sale of gasoline and diesel cars from 2035 to reduce CO2 emissions, could undergo a radical shift with the transition to electric vehicles powered by batteries and hydrogen.
GITIS has technologies for developing and testing materials suitable for HVO contact, allowing us to promptly provide customers with the appropriate solution for the vehicles and applications of the near future.
