Doubts cast on provenance of HVO as green fuel for transport and construction
The UK government is investigating the green credentials of HVO diesel amid claims of significant fraud, according to reports by the BBC.
HVO, or hydrotreated vegetable oil, can be used as 100% substitute for diesel and UK consumption has increased from 8m litres in 2019 to about 700m litres in 2024, according to provisional government figures.
It is increasingly used as a sustainable “biofuel” for HGVs, construction equipment and even powering music festivals. Its backers say it can reduce carbon emissions by up to 90% but its green claims rely heavily on the assumption that it is made from waste sources, particularly used cooking oil or the waste sludge from palm oil production.
But industry sources told the BBC they believe large amounts of these materials are not waste but instead are virgin palm oil, which is being fraudulently relabelled.
BBC data shared with the Department for Transport in particular casts doubt on the availability of palm sludge waste, in that the BBC analysis indicates Europe used more palm sludge in HVO in 2023 than it is thought possible for the world to produce.
In response DfT said they "take the concerns raised seriously and are working with stakeholders and international partners to gather further information".
In an interview on Radio 4’s Today programme, Jo Gilroy, Director of Sustainability at Balfour Beatty echoed concerns uncovered by the BBC’s investigation, explaining that the company’s policy of not using HVO fuels is due to the complex and vague nature of the supply chains in this area. She highlighted how there is limited information on where the raw materials come from, how they are manufactured into the end product and who's doing the work.
Commenting on how the sustainability of HVO fuels is assessed, Gilroy said, "We just are not able to get any level of visibility over the supply chain of HVO that would give us that level of assurance that this is truly a sustainable product.”
In 2024, Balfour Beatty published a position paper on the use of HVO fuels, setting out that while the company is committed to phasing out diesel and other fossil fuels across all operations as quickly as possible, it is imperative that proper governance and due diligence on alternative fuels including HVO is followed to ensure that any solution adopted is sustainable in the long term.
The business identified that as supplies of HVO from sustainable sources is currently limited, there is a strong likelihood that a sharp increase in demand could drive an increase in palm oil derived HVO or palm oil used as livestock feed alternative, contributing to further global deforestation.