The buses of the Stadtwerke Bamberg are to run with the “climate diesel” HVO100 from the summer. This not only saves 1.1 million liters of diesel, but also around 90 percent of CO₂ emissions.
The Bamberger Stadtwerke want to power their bus fleet with used cooking oil in the future and thus save around 90 percent CO₂ emissions, the company announced on Friday. From April onwards, two buses will test run on the regenerative fuel HVO100, which consists of 100 percent hydrogenated vegetable oils. From the summer onwards, all 57 buses that have previously been operated conventionally with diesel are to be refueled with HVO100. Stadtwerke Bamberg is the first public transport provider in Germany to test the operation of a bus fleet with so-called climate diesel.
In Bamberg, six of the 63 public utility buses are currently running on electricity. In the future, the Stadtwerke want to convert the entire fleet to e-buses, says Jan Giersberg, spokesman for Stadtwerke Bamberg. Until that is the case, filling up the remaining 57 buses with HVO100 is a quick interim solution and contributes to local climate protection.
HVO100, the abbreviation for Hydrotreated Vegetable Oil, releases around 90 percent less CO₂ emissions than conventional diesel and is intended to reduce the particulate matter emissions of the buses by up to a third. According to the municipal utility company, it also saves 1.1 million liters of diesel per year if they fill up their buses with HVO100. The Bamberg municipal works get their “air-conditioning diesel” from the Finnish company Neste, which purchases it worldwide, says Giersberg. The manufacturer Neste guarantees that it is really used cooking oil, i.e. “classic frying fat”, and that it does not promote any environmentally harmful cultivation methods.
In a test phase lasting eight weeks to three months, the public utility company is now examining the exhaust gases and engine performance before converting all 57 buses to HVO100. Giersberg says that no technical modifications need to be made to the buses themselves, because the chemical composition of HVO100 is similar to that of diesel. When it comes to technical issues, the municipal utility works primarily with Bosch in Bamberg.
Stadtwerke Bamberg is currently in contact with the Bavarian state government to get support. However, nothing is ready to be decided yet, says Giersberg. There could also be financial support from the federal government in the future; Finance Minister Christian Lindner (FDP) wants to tax e-fuel vehicles less in the future. Among other things, ferry passengers do not have to expect rising ticket prices, according to the Bamberg municipal works.