Chicken and egg problem for HVO: time for superyachts to step up?
“We have been promoting Hydrotreated Vegetable Oil (HVO) as the most suitable transitional fuel for yachting for a number of years now, but with relatively little uptake,” says Chris Warde, yacht team manager, Peninsula Yacht Services.
While Warde is bought into the product, he’s finding that yachts aren’t stepping up in quite the same way.
One of the problems is that yachts are looking for data to back up the claims about HVO (the company has an interesting explainer covering the state of the fuel industry).
“We were constantly asked whether we had any examples of yachts already using renewable diesel that could share their findings,” Warde explains. He’s hoping that this summer he’ll have enough yachts taking part in a trial to provide data which will in turn enable the bigger switch to HVO.
Peninsula, which provides marine fuel and lubricant services globally, has physical supply capabilities in 12 locations around the world and an extensive network of supply partners. In 2024, it launched the brand BFuture. That was in response to varying specs for HVO, and a push for a high-quality, consistent fuel. Peninsula says the product is ‘the very best and most sustainable HVO on the market today. We only use second-generation HVO to maximise the reduction in harmful emissions’.
“Although BFuture was only a marketing vehicle (i.e. we weren’t producing renewable diesel, but with BFuture we were promising only to provide HVO or Synthetic Diesel that had the maximum reduction in carbon emissions), we were educating the market that not only was renewable diesel the sustainable alternative to conventional diesel, but it was also a better performing fuel,” says Warde (pictured).
“Renewable diesel has a higher energy content by mass, a higher Cetane Index, which can lead to less stress on the engine, a reduction in operating temperature and importantly a complete burn in the combustion chamber. This, along with the reduction in carbon deposits, results in a significant reduction in visible black smoke from the exhaust and practically eradicates the oily slick around the waterline/below water exhaust outlets.
“Our 2024 campaign successfully created more interest. This led naturally to the next phase of the campaign: conducting independent tests, both in the lab and operationally, to compare the theoretical benefits of renewable diesel with real-world performance.”
But despite initial interest, Peninsula is still facing challenges securing yacht commitment. “Yachts often operate independently, and no one wants to be the guinea pig to trial a new fuel and risk any issues. It’s a classic ‘chicken and egg’ problem.”
Seeking superyachts for a sustainable summer
Now the company’s looking to find four to six yachts to run tests throughout the summer.
“One of the main blockers to adoption appeared to be price and availability. Although it is widely accepted that HVO reduces the environmental footprint of yachts, the premium appeared too great to entice many to make the switch,” Warde (who can be contacted via email) says.
To incentivise participation, Peninsula is offering to supply the HVO at a discounted rate to minimise the financial impact of switching to this new sustainable fuel.
Once it has enough yachts within the trial, it will, in collaboration with Spectro Jet Care (an oil testing lab with facilities in the UK and US), run tests and secure independent analysis for the test results.
“The season is still early, and we remain hopeful, but without yacht participation, we won’t have the data needed to advance this campaign.”
If enough yachts take part, the results will be consolidated, and a marketing campaign will be launched in time for the Monaco Yacht Show, followed by a white paper aimed at being ready for Metstrade.
