Commercial vehicle firms join new list of biodiesel compliance

A new list shows the trucks, buses, engines, and other commercial vehicles that have been approved by the manufacturers to run on higher blends of biodiesel.
These range from Caterpillar to DEUTZ, MAN and MTU to Scania and Volvo.
They can be fuelled with a proportion of 10 percent (B10), 20 percent (B20), 30 percent (B30) or pure biodiesel (B100).
By using biodiesel, operators of heavy-duty vehicle fleets contribute to climate protection, because depending on the feedstock, biodiesel emits between 70-90 % less greenhouse gases than fossil diesel.
"It makes particular sense for climate protection in heavy-duty transport to use more biodiesel, because electromobility cannot be used here in the short term," said Detlef Evers, managing director of Mittelstandsverband abfallbasierter Kraftstoffe (MVaK).
MVaK publishes the list together with Arbeitsgemeinschaft Qualitätsmanagement Biodiesel (AGQM), Union zur Förderung von Oel- und Proteinpflanzen (UFOP) and Verband der Deutschen Biokraftstoffindustrie (VDB).
"For cities and municipalities, it is already interesting to use biodiesel in the municipal vehicle fleet, in the future it will become even more attractive,”said Elmar Baumann, managing director at VDB.
“This is because the municipalities are obliged by the Clean Vehicle Procurement Act to use vehicles in their fleets that cause fewer greenhouse gas emissions. To comply with this obligation, they can also use biodiesel.”
"Especially for rural municipalities, it brings advantages when biodiesel is fuelled in municipal and agricultural vehicles. Locally produced rapeseed can be used for biodiesel production. Strengthening the regional economy, securing jobs and climate protection thus go hand in hand," added Stephan Arens, managing director of UFOP.
As a rule, fuels must meet the minimum requirements of the applicable standards. In Europe, EN 14214 specifies pure biodiesel. EN 14214 is usually appointed in the product information of the vehicle manufacturers as a prerequisite for use and warranty.