The wonder fuel that Holcim UK (formerly Aggregate Industries) has pledged to use to extract and haul material from Straitgate is in trouble.
We have posted about HVO or hydrotreated vegetable oil fuel before. Condition 22 of Holcim UK’s planning permission to quarry Straitgate Farm says:
Prior to the export of any sand or gravel from the site, a scheme which ensures that all heavy goods vehicles entering and leaving the site, together with all plant and equipment located within the site, use hydrotreated vegetable oil fuel shall be submitted to and approved in writing by the Mineral Planning Authority. The scheme shall include details of how the use of hydrotreated vegetable oil fuel will be monitored to secure compliance with this condition. All heavy goods vehicles and plant shall be used in accordance with the approved scheme.
Last year, we wrote a post titled HVO – where on earth will all the used cooking oil come from?:
Aggregate Industries’ magical solution to its unsustainable 2.5 million mile haulage scheme for Straitgate Farm – a result of processing the as-dug sand and gravel 23 miles away at Hillhead near Uffculme – is to rely on hydrotreated vegetable oil, HVO, despite, as of early 2024, HVO being around 40 pence per litre more expensive than normal diesel...The concern must be that if every corporate is now going to be greenwashing their pollution away with the delights of HVO, where on earth will all the used cooking oil come from? And how many millions more acres of rainforest will have to be cleared to replace it?
And surprise, surprise – today the BBC has reported that the UK government is now investigating HVO diesel amid claims of significant fraud:
... industry whistleblowers told the BBC they believe large amounts of these materials are not waste but instead are virgin palm oil, which is being fraudulently relabelled.And data analysed by the BBC and shared with the UK's Department for Transport casts further doubt on one of the key ingredients in HVO, a material called palm sludge waste.Europe used more of this waste in HVO and other biofuels in 2023 than it is thought possible for the world to produce.UK consumption rocketed from 8 million litres in 2019 to about 699 million litres in 2024, according to provisional government figures.Its green credentials rely heavily on the assumption that it is made from waste sources, particularly used cooking oil or the waste sludge from palm oil production.But industry whistle-blowers have told the BBC that they believe virgin palm oil and other non-waste materials are often being used instead..."It's a very easy game," said Dr Christian Bickert, a German farmer and editor with experience in biofuels, who believes that much of the HVO made with these waste products is "fake"."Chemically, the sludge and the pure palm oil are absolutely the same because they come from the same plant, and also from the same production facilities in Indonesia," he told BBC News."There's no paper which proves [the fraud], no paper at all, but the figures tell a clear story."
Construction company Balfour Beatty has a policy of not using the fuel, citing sustainability concerns:
"We just are not able to get any level of visibility over the supply chain of HVO that would give us that level of assurance that this is truly a sustainable product," Balfour Beatty's Jo Gilroy told BBC News.
"UK investigating claims green fuel contains virgin palm oil"
— Colin Walker (@colinwalker79) April 9, 2025
Industry whistleblowers say large amounts of the material used to produce HVO diesel (increasingly popular as a transport fuel) are not waste - as claimed - but instead are virgin palm oilhttps://t.co/c3DzN98AOE
