Since early November, the cars chauffeuring the management board members of Robert Bosch GmbH have been running on fully renewable diesel. Known as “C.A.R.E. diesel,” this fuel is synthesized mainly from by-products and waste materials. Its supplier Toolfuel claims that C.A.R.E. diesel reduces the CO₂ emissions of these cars by around two-thirds, or 65%, from well to wheel.

Neste makes C.A.R.E. diesel; the company’s partner Toolfuel distributes it in Germany. C.A.R.E., a trademark of Toolfuel, is short for CO₂ Reduction, Arctic Grade, Renewable, Emission Reduction.

Renewable and synthetic fuels can contribute greatly to limiting global warming. Their use has a much faster ecological impact than replacing vehicles and infrastructure, as existing filling stations can remain in operation. Synthetic and renewable fuels should be factored into the CO2 fleet regulation for passenger cars and trucks.

—Dr. Volkmar Denner, CEO of Robert Bosch GmbH

Since C.A.R.E. diesel has yet to be included in the German law on the prevention of airborne pollution, it is not currently available at regular filling stations. In its trials with fully renewable diesel, Bosch wants to show if and how it could be adopted on a broad scale.

Bosch is encouraging the use of renewable and synthetic fuels. R33 Blue Diesel, an approved fuel made by Shell, has been available for trial and company car pool vehicles at the filling stations at the Bosch locations in Feuerbach, Schwieberdingen, and Hildesheim for some weeks now. This fuel contains up to 33% renewables. (Earlier post.)

The carbon footprint of the more than 1,000 Bosch vehicles that regularly refuel at these three filling stations could thus be reduced by as much as 20% from well to wheel. On top of that, Bosch aims to make synthetic and renewable fuels available for company cars and internal delivery vehicles at all its company filling stations across Germany. The supplier of technology and services is also gradually incorporating battery-powered electric vehicles into its fleet.

Road traffic accounts for 18% of global CO₂ emissions. In Germany, the CO₂ emissions of newly registered vehicles have fallen by one quarter since 2007. On the downside, the CO₂ emitted by traffic on European roads is rising again.

One reason for this is the shrinking share of newly registered diesel vehicles; compared with its gasoline variant, a diesel model’s carbon footprint is around 15% lower on average.

We need diesel and other solutions such as renewable and synthetic fuels in addition to electromobility to further reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

—Dr. Volkmar Denner

If renewable and synthetic fuels were widely used by European passenger cars, this alone could save up to 2.8 gigatons of CO₂ by 2050—and that is without electrification factored into the equation. This is three times the amount of carbon dioxide Germany emitted in 2016.

Bosch has been exploring renewable and synthetic fuels for some time now. The company’s fuel-carrying components for diesel engines, such as the fuel pump and injection nozzles, have been rigorously tested, and vehicle manufacturers are free to approve them for use with renewable and synthetic fuels.