Determining the effectiveness of HVO fuel in reducing emissions from Formula One’s cargo transport in Europe

Abstract

Since the modern era, the logistics of the FIA Formula One World Championship involved extensive ground transportation, contributing significantly to the sport’s overall carbon emissions. To mitigate this circumstance, the Fédération Internationale de l’Automobile (FIA) issued the Net Zero Carbon By 2030 Campaign. Hydrotreated Vegetable Oil (HVO), a renewable diesel that can be directly used in an internal combustion engine (ICE), was adopted by the Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS Formula One Team as a trial in 2022. This study examines the HVO’s efficiency in reducing emissions compared to conventional fossil diesel, and therefore analyzes whether it should be widely deployed by other participants in the sport. We first summarize HVO’s chemical characteristics and examine its emissions reduction based on existing research in the field. Moreover, two Well-to-Wheel (WTW) models, separated into cargo and non-cargo-based approaches, are used to quantify emission reductions in real-life logistics. The results of the cargo-based method show that HVO achieves an average emission reduction of 83%, with 11.98% of percentage error compared to 90% claimed by Mercedes. These findings support the environmental benefits of switching to HVO, suggesting it as a viable solution to achieve the Net Zero goal.