Volkswagen switches two car carriers to biofuels

The first of two chartered-in car carriers, the Patara, owned by Depth RoRo, was refueled for the first time with 100% GoodFuels’ biofuel in mid-November 2020 and a second ship is due to follow at the beginning of 2021.

Underscoring the efforts being made by leading corporations to reduce their carbon footprints, Volkswagen Group Logistics is to use certified fuel from vegetable residues for certain new car shipments via marine routes. Supplied by Netherlands-based GoodFuels, the fuel is produced from materials such as used oil from restaurants and the food industry.

The first of two chartered in car carriers, the Patara, owned by Depth RoRo, was refueled for the first time with 100% GoodFuels’ biofuel in mid-November 2020 and a second ship is due to follow at the beginning of 2021.

“We are the first automaker to make widespread use of this fuel. This way, we reuse waste oil in an environmentally compatible way. With 85% lower CO2 emissions than with conventional fossil fuels, the contribution to climate protection is enormous,” says Thomas Zernechel, Head of Volkswagen Group Logistics.

For European shipments, Volkswagen Group Logistics continuously charters two vessels which carry up to 3,500 vehicles on a route from Emden via Dublin (Ireland), Santander (Spain) and Setubal (Portugal) back to Emden about 50 times per year. In the course of their journeys, they carry about 250,000 new vehicles of the Audi, SEAT, Škoda, Volkswagen Passenger Cars and Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles brands every year.

The two ships, which are both 180 meters long, are each powered by an MAN marine diesel engine developing more than 19,000 hp (14,220 kW). In future, the two ships are to be refueled at sea off the coast of Vlissingen (Netherlands) with alternative fuel supplied by the Dutch company GoodFuels. This way, the CO2 emissions of the two conventional vessels along their route will be reduced by more than 85% – from over 60,000 to about 9,000 tonnes per year. In addition, sulfur oxide emissions will be almost completely avoided.