Renewable, alternative energy products
In the field of fuels, Petrol's policy is environmentally-friendly, while respecting all sustainability criteria. Our actions are, and will continue to be, proactive in the introduction of alternative fuels, but at the same time respecting the economic rules and financial sustainability that apply to companies.
Decarbonisation targets require finding and using alternatives to conventional petroleum products. These are mainly low or carbon-free energy products from renewable sources, such as wind, sun, water, and the like. As their use is related to technological solutions, we will be using conventional fuels for at least some time, despite significant shifts in the use of electricity as a driving fuel in transport. At Petrol, we are aware of the importance of alternative fuels, so in parallel with investing in clean and renewable sources (wind, solar and hydro energy), we are also actively looking for more environmentally friendly solutions for conventional motor drives. These undoubtedly include sustainable biofuels, natural gas, and partly also liquefied petroleum gas and electricity from RES.
We reduce transport fuel emissions with various measures, namely:
- with additional fuel additives - this contributes to lower consumption, which is the result of more optimal engine performance and, consequently, cleaner combustion processes. This reduces both CO2 emissions and harmful substance emissions (CO, CH, NOx) due to combustion.
- By using biofuels and fuels that have lower emissions than petroleum fuels - this mainly reduces greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from the entire unit of fuel life cycle (factor expressed in g CO2/MJ). Such alternative fuels include liquefied petroleum gas and natural gas for the propulsion of vehicles
- using conventional fuels with additions of biofuels.
CO2 and other emissions from the combustion of fuels in international combustion engines can be reduced even if using conventional petroleum fuels, such as diesel and petrol, thanks to additives or combinations with some advanced types of biofuels, which can make these fuels more environmentally friendly. This is evidenced by Petrol’s Q Max fuel family, especially Q Max iQ diesel launched on the market at the end of 2019 and which reduces GHG emissions by 26 percent compared to conventional diesel fuels.
In 2020, we prepared a programme to renew the existing additive packages, which would enable achieving additional effects of reducing fuel consumption and emissions by up to 4.5 percent compared to the standard fuels. The new packages were launched in 2021.
In addition to the standard range of fuels, Petrol is also focused on meeting the needs of specific users. One such product is the use of diesel fuel in maritime transport, which must comply with the Marine Pollution Prevention Convention (MARPOL). The requirements for the use of fuels with a high sulphur content have become much stricter in maritime transport. Petrol responded by offering its customers diesel fuel, Marine Diesel, adapted to the requirements for use in maritime transport.
Biofuels are the most widespread group of alternative fuels and currently the key energy product to achieve the prescribed share of RES in transport. In 2019, we purchased approximately 89,300 tons of biodiesel and 89,450 tons in 2020. At the end of 2019, we started purchasing HVO (Hydrotreated Vegetable Oil) biofuel, and in 2020 we delivered approximately 1.8 million litres of this fuel, which was entirely intended for the Slovenian market. HVO is produced by treating vegetable oils with hydrogen, and the result is top-quality fuel with a very stable chemical composition. It is very similar in its properties to standard diesel fuel, so it can be used as a standalone product or as an additive to diesel fuel, thus reducing the share of fossil base of diesel accordingly.
Despite having increased the share of biofuel use in 2019 and 2020, Petrol did not meet the required shares of RES, but it did achieve a steep growth of RES in transport by leading an active policy of expanding biofuel use. In 2019, this share was just over 5% (e/e) and in 2020 it increased to 7.86% (e/e); we managed to significantly increase the overall emission savings from 2.7% to 3.7%. It should be noted that this was achieved almost exclusively through the use of biofuels. Most of these were placed on the market as additives to diesel fuels.