A mate of mine runs his own artic out of DIRFT. Last year he switched his truck to HVO — hydrogenated vegetable oil — on the recommendation of a customer who was chasing down their Scope 3 emissions. He did three months on it, did the sums, and rang me up sounding half-impressed and half-annoyed. 'Works fine,' he said. 'But nobody warned me it's not like for like on price.'
That about sums up where we are with HVO in UK road transport. The fuel works. The carbon numbers are real. But it's not simple, and the trade-offs are worth understanding before a shipper or depot manager talks you into it.
What HVO actually is
Hydrogenated vegetable oil is a paraffinic diesel fuel — that is, it's produced by processing vegetable oils or animal fats with hydrogen under pressure, turning them into a straight-chain hydrocarbon fuel. The result looks and behaves like diesel in your tank. It meets EN 15940, the European standard for paraffinic diesel fuels.
It's not to be confused with FAME biodiesel — the older-generation 'green diesel' that can be blended into regular diesel (B7 is 7% FAME, which is what you're pumping at most service stations). FAME has storage and cold-weather issues. HVO doesn't — it behaves better in cold temperatures than standard diesel, which matters when you're parked up at Scotch Corner in January waiting for a morning slot.
And it's not red diesel. This matters legally and financially.
The fuel duty question
Red diesel — rebated fuel — isn't available for road-going HGVs. That hasn't changed. HVO used in road vehicles attracts the full road fuel duty rate, the same as regular diesel. There's no duty rebate for using HVO on the road regardless of where it came from or how sustainable the feedstock is.
Some operators who use HVO in non-road machinery — generators, agricultural equipment, reefer units — have historically used the rebated ('red') version of HVO. But put it in the truck tank and drive it on a public road and you need to have paid full duty. HMRC sampling on roadside fuel checks can identify HVO, and using rebated fuel in a road vehicle is the same offence regardless of what type of fuel it is.
On price: as of late 2024 and into 2025, HVO was running roughly 15–30p per litre above ULSD (ultra-low sulphur diesel). That premium fluctuates with feedstock costs and availability. For a truck doing 100,000 miles a year at around 8 miles per gallon — roughly 57,000 litres — a 20p/litre premium is around £11,400 a year. Owner-drivers feel that immediately. Larger fleets may be able to negotiate supply contracts that narrow the gap.
The carbon reduction claim
The headline figure you'll see from fuel suppliers is that HVO reduces lifecycle carbon emissions by up to 90% compared to fossil diesel, when assessed on a well-to-wheel basis and when the feedstock is genuinely waste or residue material. That's a real number, but it comes with conditions.
The reduction depends entirely on the feedstock. Waste cooking oil and animal fat tallow give the best numbers. Virgin palm oil gives much worse numbers and carries deforestation risk. Under the UK Renewable Transport Fuel Obligation (RTFO), suppliers must report the feedstock origin and sustainability certification for every batch. If you're buying HVO and putting it in carbon-reporting documents for a shipper, check the sustainability certificate that comes with it. Not all HVO is equal.
The engine itself doesn't care. Combustion characteristics are very similar to diesel — energy density is slightly lower, but most drivers report no noticeable difference in performance or fuel consumption.
The manufacturer warranty question
This is where it gets complicated. Not every truck manufacturer has formally approved HVO (EN 15940 paraffinic diesel) for use in all their engines.
Scania and Volvo have both issued guidance approving HVO in their engines meeting EN 15940, subject to conditions. MAN and DAF have also published approvals for some engine variants. Mercedes-Benz has been cautious — approvals are model and engine-variant specific. Iveco has published support for HVO in several of their Eurocargo and Stralis variants.
The key step before you switch: find your engine's specific approval document from the manufacturer. Not a press release. The actual technical bulletin that applies to your engine variant and model year. If your manufacturer hasn't approved EN 15940 paraffinic diesel for your specific engine, running HVO could affect warranty claims on fuel system or injection components.
For a lease vehicle, check your lease agreement and with the fleet management company. Some leasing companies have flagged concerns about HVO until they've confirmed compatibility across their fleet spec. Others are fine with it and will tick it off a compliance question.
Where you can actually get it
The infrastructure gap is the biggest practical problem. HVO is available at a growing number of fuel card depots and commercial pump sites, but it's nowhere near the coverage of ULSD. Neste is the largest global HVO producer. TotalEnergies, CERTAS, and some regional suppliers now offer HVO delivery to depot storage or in some cases bunkering. On-road pump availability at public-access truck stops is limited.
If you're owner-operating out of a yard and you can take a 1,000-litre IBC delivery, HVO is more accessible. If you're tramping and fuelling from motorway services, you're probably fuelling with diesel whether you like it or not. The A1(M) services don't have an HVO pump at the moment. Neither does Lymm.
Fleet operations with their own tank infrastructure are the natural early adopters here. A depot with an underground tank can swap to HVO in one delivery cycle, with minimal operational change. Drivers won't notice the difference.
Should you or your operator switch?
If a major customer is asking for carbon reporting and your operator wants to reduce Scope 1 emissions without buying a new fleet, HVO is the simplest lever. No capital cost, no driver retraining, no charging infrastructure. You fill up with HVO, you keep your existing recording system, and you report the fuel type in your emissions data.
If you're an owner-driver and nobody's asking you for a carbon certificate, the case is harder to make. The premium price has to come from somewhere. Some operators pass it to customers as a 'sustainable fuel surcharge'. Whether your customers will pay it depends on who you're running for and what their own sustainability targets look like.
What I wouldn't do is switch without checking manufacturer approval for your specific engine, and without confirming you have a reliable supply route. Running out of HVO mid-week and going back to diesel is fine for the engine — you can mix the two — but it plays havoc with any carbon accounting you're trying to do for a customer.
The practical checklist
- Check manufacturer's published bulletin for your engine variant. Not general press material — the actual approval for your engine code and model year.
- Confirm your fuel supplier's sustainability certificate (ISCC or equivalent) before using for carbon reporting.
- Budget for the premium — 15–30p/litre above ULSD as a working assumption, subject to market.
- For lease vehicles: check the lease agreement and inform the fleet manager before switching.
- Full duty rate applies on road. Do not use rebated HVO in a road-going vehicle.
HVO isn't the revolution some suppliers would have you believe, and it's not the scam the sceptics claim either. It's a real fuel with real carbon benefits, real costs, and real limitations. Worth knowing about — especially if a customer or operator starts making noise about it.
If you're tracking your own working time and 561 compliance alongside running costs, ShiftOwt does the compliance side — £5.99/mo for drivers.