BR Aviation starts refueling trucks with green diesel at Galeão airport

By Vibra Energia

January 10, 2023

This is a machine translation of the press release originally published in Portuguese. 

Committed to leading the energy transition in Brazil, BR Aviation (a business unit for aircraft fueling services and activities in the airline segment of Vibra and a licensed brand of Petrobras ) continues on its journey to be a protagonist on the path towards a low-income economy. carbon, with solutions to decarbonize its activities, from partners and suppliers.

In this context, from December 2022, gradually, BR Aviation trucks operating at Galeão/Tom Jobim International Airport, in Rio de Janeiro, will start to operate with the mixture containing HVO diesel (acronym in English for Vegetal Oil hydrotreated or green diesel). HVO is a bet to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and will be used in our vehicle fleet, which will circulate with 10% green diesel (HVO) in its composition, in addition to the percentage of biodiesel defined by national regulation, today 10%.

The path to decarbonization is a long process, but Vibra/BR Aviation continues to carry out initiatives based on best practices that seek to bring sustainable solutions to the renewable portfolio in order to offer cleaner energy to customers. In addition, with a series of initiatives that also seek sustainable solutions for operations, it is possible to help partners and customers achieve their emissions targets, even in difficult sectors such as aviation.

The perspective is that, gradually, there will be an increase in the percentage of green diesel over the years and, with that, a greater reduction of emissions in vehicle operation. HVO also stands out in relation to other decarbonization solutions because it can be mixed and even replace fossil diesel, completely and immediately, without the need for adaptations. HVO is already being used in Europe and the United States on a commercial scale and shows great promise as a source of clean energy for cargo transport.

The fuel is produced by processing renewable raw materials such as vegetable oil. Of 100% renewable origin, green diesel is able to reduce carbon emissions by almost 90% when compared to fossil diesel. Therefore, green diesel is one of the most promising alternatives for energy transition.

“By adopting 10% HVO in the fuel mixture used by the 15 trucks in the Galeão airport fleet, we will stop emitting 14 tons of greenhouse gases into the air per year. We are developing several fronts that will certainly place VIBRA / BR Aviation as a protagonist in a low-carbon economy)”, explains Rodrigo Mota, director of aviation at Vibra.

To get an idea of what this reduction amounts to, in general, on average, 7 trees capture about a ton of carbon over 20 years. In this way, the 14 tons would be equivalent to the life cycle of 100 trees. Another form of comparison is the removal of 5 light vehicles per year, considering that on average a vehicle travels 15,000 km (with a yield of 10 km/l of gasoline).

The HVO will be adapted to the engine technologies in this first phase of application at the supply base at Galeão airport. After assessments throughout fleet operations, the idea is to expand its application to other Vibra operations.

As of 2025, Vibra will be an offtaker of the first biorefinery in Brazil dedicated to the production of HVO. The plant, located in Manaus, will have the capacity to produce up to 500,000 tons of fuel per year and is located in a strategic point for distribution across the entire northern region of the country.

“The demand for products related to decarbonization and the ESG agenda is increasing. In our strategy, we consider the idea of a future based on a low-carbon economy, which is why we are committed to developing business in renewable energy and working together with suppliers, customers and partners.”, highlights Mota.

Commitment to the energy transition

Vibra is committed to being NET ZERO by 2025 for scope 1 and 2 emissions, focusing on reducing emissions from its operational and administrative units. The company remains attentive and anticipates to offer the best energy to its customers, following the evolution and availability of processes that can be powered by cleaner and more renewable energy sources. For this reason, it began to operate in new markets, such as electricity and electromobility, increased its operations in the ethanol market and entered into strategic partnerships for the sale of green diesel.