Rolls-Royce and the Finnish company Neste have signed a Memorandum of Understanding to build a strategic partnership on accelerating the use of renewable diesel as a lower-emission solution for diesel engines.
Both companies share a common vision that sustainable fuels play a key role in reducing greenhouse gas emissions in off-highway applications. The key focus in the collaboration will be on promoting the use of existing internal combustion engines for sustainable fuels, advancing the transition from fossil fuels to sustainable fuels, and knowledge sharing on high-quality renewable diesel (HVO).
Neste currently boasts a renewable products global production capacity of 3.3 million tons per year. But this is just the beginning; the company plans to increase the total production capacity of renewable products to 5.5 million tons by the end of 2023 and to 6.8 million tons by the end of 2026.
The ‘Neste MY Renewable Diesel’ claims to be made from 100% renewable raw materials through a sustainable process. With ‘Neste MY Renewable Diesel,’ greenhouse gas emissions can be reduced by as much as 75% to 95% when emissions over the fuel’s life cycle are compared with fossil diesel. It is a drop-in fuel, not requiring any modifications to the existing vehicles, energy systems, or fuel distribution infrastructures.
“Since May 2022, Rolls-Royce has approved mtu engines for power generation for renewable diesel and other fuels meeting the EN15940 standard specifications. The tests we have done show additionally an up to 90% greenhouse gas reduction, up to 80% less particulate emissions, and an average of 8% nitrogen oxides reduction. All our tests confirmed full performance levels without modifications to the engines”, outlines Michael Stipa, Vice President of Stationary Strategy, Business Development, and Product Management at Rolls-Royce Power Systems.
“Both Neste and Rolls-Royce are aiming to reach their climate targets and to support the customers on their sustainability journey. Collaboration truly plays a key role when aiming for a significant sustainability impact,” says Mats Hultman, Head of OEM Partnerships at Neste.
Rolls-Royce has experience of working with Neste on sustainable fuels in other parts of its business. Last year, together with Airbus and German research center DLR, they conducted a world-first study of the impact of 100% sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) on both engines of a commercial jet. The study marked the first time 100% SAF had been measured simultaneously on both engines of a commercial passenger aircraft.
