FAQs
What makes GREEND+ biofuel a good alternative to standard diesel?
GREEND+ is a drop-in fuel, requiring no modification whatsoever to engines, just fill up and go. It also offers the lowest emissions for a diesel replacement fuel saving up to 29% NOx and 85% of particulates over standard diesel. For users of off road or Red Diesel it lasts longer in the tank and provides better fuel stability.
How does the efficiency of GREEND+ biofuel compare to regular diesel?
Long term operation shows that the fuel consumption of GREEND+ matched that of regular diesel, find out more HERE
Where does GREEND+ fuel come from?
The HVO in GREEND+ fuel is manufactured in a number of refineries around the world. The fuel is entirely made from waste materials such as used cooking oils, tallows and other waste oil. The fuel does not include any virgin crops.
Will GREEND+ biofuel damage engines?
No, all major engine manufacturers support the use of our fuels. GREEND+ leaves no carbon deposits and in fact has a cleaning effect on engines. You can find out more about our fuel's specification HERE
Does the use of GREEND+ affect engine warranties?
No, using our fuel does not affect warranties. GREEND+ is an EN15940 fuel which is recognised by almost all major engine manufacturers.
How does GBF’s infrastructure operate?
Our Advanced Fuels are delivered to customers across the UK from our storage facilities in the North West and South East of the UK.
Does the price of the fuel vary or are customers able to obtain a long-term fixed price contract?
Customers can obtain a long-term fixed price contract when they sign up for a year or more.
Is GREEND+ more expensive than regular diesel?
GREEND+ is more fuel efficient, so it can be argued that you get better value for money than regular diesel. The expectation is that you will have to use around 10% more fuel (due to the density difference between diesel and GREEND+). In fact, numerous studies reveal that the volumetric fuel consumption may increase by 3 to 5%. Sometimes no increase at all is seen. Make no mistake, you are burning less fuel (i.e. mass of hydrocarbon) to achieve the same results with GREEND+GreenD+ than you would with diesel – hence the generation of lower CO2 emissions in fixed cycle chassis dynamometer testing. The amount of CO2 generated to perform a fix duty cycle is lower (relative to diesel) and 90% of the CO2 generated is from a sustainable source and not a fossil fuel.
Cutting emission and pollutants by up to 90% is a big claim, what’s that measured against?
To get into the details however, we’ll break this down into regulated emissions (NOx, CO, HC, PM) and unregulated emissions (chiefly CO2).
GREEND+ uses the same source material as biodiesel – vegetable oils, fats, used oils. Biodiesel production involves removing part of the molecule (glycerol) and swapping it with methanol (wood alcohol). This produces FAME – fatty acid methyl ester and glycerol -hence the glut in glycerol. FAME is similar to diesel and has been used as a partial substitute for diesel (currently around 7% of diesel). The plans originally were to replace even more diesel with FAME. Biodiesel (FAME)’s greatest credential is that the carbon backbone comes from atmospheric carbon dioxide and not from fossil fuels. Plants are unique in their ability to convert atmospheric carbon dioxide, through photosynthesis, into useful organic molecules, including vegetable oils (meaning oils extracted from seeds of plants - sunflower, palm, rape etc.).
However many Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) are not too fond of biodiesel (FAME) – why?
The problem with FAME or biodiesel is that it retains the carbon – carbon double bonds – the unsaturated bonds which are found around the middle of the 16-18 long carbon chain. They are prone to reaction with oxygen which causes all sorts of problems, varnish formation, thickening of the lubricant etc.
GREEND+ is a clever solution to these limitations – the same vegetable raw materials used to make biodiesel are used to make hydrotreated vegetable oil (HVO). The oils are reacted in such a way that no double bonds are left and the molecule is isomerised (rearranged lego-wise to make the structure linear) to make more effective molecules. No glycerol is produced. The molecule resembles the ideal diesel molecule – there’s no sulphur, no aromatics and no double bonds. Unlike biodiesel you can replace 100% of diesel with this fuel. It’s a pure aliphatic hydrocarbon which burns cleanly. All the carbon in the molecule comes from atmospheric CO2.
Hence there’s a 90% reduction in CO2 emissions associated with GREEND+, which is the Greenhouse Gas saving. The CO2 is taken from the atmosphere by the vegetable growth process and returned on combustion. In the case of GREEND+ (Whereas in the case of diesel, it is extracted from fossil fuels and on combustion contributes an augmentation of atmospheric CO2). The remaining 10% is due to the energy expended in growth, harvesting and processing of the material. In addition to the CO2 reductions of around 90% this fuel is formulated to reduce the regulated emissions when compared directly to diesel fuel in diesel engines. The reductions in NOx, PM, CO by HVO based fuels is well documented and accepted. With this in mind, cutting emissions in pollutants by 90% seems a modest claim.
How much GREEND+ is available?
We estimate the UK addressable market to be approximately 10bn litres and we are targeting 1-2bn litres. The available product for UK market is estimated at up to 4bn litres.
Isn't it better to switch to electric vehicles?
Do you use palm oil in GREEND+?
There are 15 main feed stocks in our product, one of these can be palm oil mill effluent, which is the waste from palm oil production, we only source this from mills taking raw material from plantations that are older than 2007, and certified within the ISCC and RSPO schemes. The effluent from these commercial processes historically went into landfill, and its inclusion in fuels has significantly improved the local environments around the mills.
What does HVO look like on a global scale?
Aren't biofuels bad because they cause deforestation?
Can I purchase your fuel for my car?
Green Biofuels supplies its own brand of biofuel – GREEND+ – to customers using diesel consuming fleets. This fuel is sold at volume and not on an individual basis. Hopefully one day soon we will be able to supply cars and private vehicles with GREEND+.
You can learn more about our markets HERE
Aren't modern diesel engines low emission anyway?
Isn't it faster to reduce pollution with petrol and LPG?
What is in GREEND+’s additive?
The incorporation of fuel additives by the fuel distributor is an opportunity to differentiate their fuel from competitors. All fuels on sale have to comply to European and International standards. This guarantees a minimum performance. Additive can, and does, enhance the handling, storage and performance of the fuel; for example they can ensure greater cleanliness of the fuel system, good ignition quality during combustion and can help mitigate the formation of undesirable emissions.
Very few technologies can reduce both PM and NOx simultaneously. As well as reductions in PM, GREEND+ significantly reduces NOx. This in part is due to the differences in the chemistry of the base fuel (absence of aromatics) but also because of the incorporation of our additive.