From January 2023 onwards, all diesel-powered ground handling vehicles and machinery at Amsterdam Airport Schiphol in the Netherlands will be using Neste MY Renewable Diesel (also known as HVO100), which is produced from 100-per-cent renewable raw materials.

There are around 1,900 ground handling vehicles with a diesel engine at Schiphol airport, varying from standard cars, vans, pushback tractors and trucks to more specialised ground support like conveyor belt loaders, pallet or container loaders, catering highlifts, aircraft fuel dispensers, passenger steps and ground power units. 



KLM Equipment Services (KES) is the fuel supplier for all vehicles and machinery on Schiphol with a fuel station at the airport as well as three fuel trucks operating seven days a week. Neste MY Renewable Diesel is supplied to KES via Neste’s distribution partner EG Group.

A “significant step” towards net-zero emissions



“At the moment, 40 per cent of the motorised equipment at the airport runs on electricity. And that number will increase over the coming years. However, for a number of specialist heavy vehicles, it is a technical challenge to develop a battery with sufficient capacity that can also be charged quickly enough. Using Neste MY Renewable Diesel is therefore a good solution currently,” advised Paul Feldbrugge, responsible for the Zero Emission Programme within KES.



"KLM Equipment Services is an existing customer of EG Group in the field of lubricants. Now this co-operation is further expanded with Neste MY Renewable Diesel. We are very pleased with KES's choice to use Neste-produced renewable diesel as a solution at the airport ground and that EG Group can contribute to making this happen," remarked Rob Wemekamp, B2B Sales Manager, EG Group.
 


“This is a significant step on the way towards a zero-emission ground operation in 2030,” enthused Denise Pronk, responsible for sustainability at Royal Schiphol Group, operating the Schiphol airport. “The vehicles for which there are currently no electric or hydrogen alternatives available can run on renewable diesel. Everyone on airside, where the loads are moved to or from the aircraft, is making use of it, including Aviapartner, dnata, Menzies, Swissport, KLM Ground Services and Viggo,” she noted.  “We're pleased about that. It's also important that we all continue to expand the number of electric vehicles at Schiphol. We are also going to considerably expand the number of charging stations,” she added.

Reducing fuel lifecycle GHG emissions by up to 95%



“With KLM Equipment Services now starting to use our Neste MY Renewable Diesel for all diesel-powered ground handling vehicles and machinery at the airport, our contribution to Schiphol's sustainability targets significantly increases,” commented Peter Zonneveld, Vice President Sales Renewable Road Transportation at Neste. “With Neste MY Renewable Diesel, the greenhouse gas emissions can be reduced by as much as 75 to 95 per cent when emissions over the fuel's life cycle are compared with fossil diesel. Companies can reduce their climate emissions in an instant by just changing to Neste MY Renewable Diesel,” he advised. 

“With our renewables production capacity increasing to 5.5 million tons by the end of 2023 and further to 6.8 million tons by the end of 2026, we are well-equipped to help our customers around the world to make the switch to more sustainable solutions,” Mr Zonneveld added. 



Neste MY Renewable Diesel is produced from 100-per-cent renewable raw materials. It is a drop-in fuel, the use of which does not require any modifications to existing vehicles or machines, energy systems or fuel distribution infrastructures. 



Schiphol is one of the airports in Europe in which Neste MY Sustainable Aviation Fuel – a more sustainable alternative to fossil jet fuel – is available. The use of Neste-produced SAF reduces greenhouse gas emissions by up to 80 per cent over the fuel’s life cycle, compared to using fossil jet fuel.