Industry view on HVO

The RYA, IWA and CA are working to help recreational boating transition to a Net Zero future, as the CA's

-  Trevor Page

While electric propulsion may well become the norm for new boats in the future, a significant number of the recreational boats today will still be fully serviceable for decades to come and given design constraints, cost and the environmental impact of scrapping engines or even complete boats, many existing small boats might still have no alternative but to rely on a diesel engine.

The emissions from small boat engines may be relatively small but boat owners of all types are generally very environmentally conscious and hence the Inland Waterways Association, (waterways.org.uk) (IWA) Royal Yachting Association (rya.org.uk/) (RYA) and The Cruising Association (theca.org.uk) (CA) have formed a joint working group to consider the use of HVO (hydrotreated vegetable oil) as a potentially more sustainable and environmentally friendly fuel for legacy small diesel engines during the transition period to new propulsion technologies.