Rolls-Royce releases mtu engines for construction equipment, industrial applications, agriculture and mining for sustainable fuels

• mtu Series 1000, 1100, 1300 and 1500 engines already approved for sustainable synthetic fuels such as HVO and e-diesel
• Many Series 4000 mining engines will be released this year, with EU Stage V to follow
• Up to 90 % CO2 savings possible through operation with HVO

Rolls-Royce is taking an important step towards a more climate-friendly future in construction equipment, industrial applications, agriculture and mining with the approval of mtu Series 1000, 1100, 1300, 1500 and 4000 engines for sustainable fuels. The mtu Series 1000, 1100, 1300 and 1500 engines – and therefore the entire Rolls-Royce product portfolio for these applications – have already been approved for use with EN15940 paraffinic diesel fuels following successful bench testing.  This year, many mtu engines for mining applications of the Series 4000 will also be released for the sustainable fuels. Engines for emissions regulations EU Stage V will follow.

Sustainable synthetic fuels include BtL (Biomass to Liquid), HVO (Hydrotreated Vegetable Oil) and PtL (Power to Liquid) such as e-diesel. To convert from conventional diesel fuel made from fossil petroleum to synthetic fuels of the EN15940 standard, no adaptation of existing engines is necessary.  

“The use of sustainable fuels enables our industrial, agricultural and mining customers to significantly reduce greenhouse gas emissions – without compromising performance compared to conventional diesel,” said Dr Lei Berners-Wu, Vice President Global Industrial at Rolls-Royce business unit Power Systems.  

HVO use significantly reduces CO2, nitrogen oxide and particulate emissions

Waste vegetable and animal fats and used vegetable oils can be used as base materials for HVO, which are converted into hydrocarbons by means of a catalytic reaction with the addition of hydrogen. Through this process, the properties of the fats and vegetable oils are adapted to diesel fuel and can supplement it as an admixture or replace it completely. The benefits of HVO are clean combustion with reductions in particulate emissions of up to 80 percent, nitrogen oxide emissions by an average of eight percent, and (depending on the manufacturing process and feedstock) CO2 emissions by up to 90 percent compared to fossil diesel. Because HVO fuel is produced from renewable raw materials, its combustion only generates about as much greenhouse gas as were absorbed by the plants during the growth of the biomass. Thanks to its production from residual and waste materials, there is no competition with food production.    

Target: Reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 35% by 2030 with new fuels and mtu technologies

Rolls-Royce announced in 2021, as part of its sustainability programme “Net Zero at Power Systems”, that it would realign its product portfolio so that by 2030, new fuels and mtu technologies can reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 35 per cent compared to 2019.    

About Rolls-Royce Holdings plc

1. Rolls-Royce is at the forefront of propulsion and energy solutions that connect, power and protect society. We are committed to achieving carbon neutrality in our operations by 2030 (excluding product testing) and joined the UN Race to Zero campaign in 2020. This reaffirms our ambition to play a fundamental role in making the areas in which we operate climate neutral by 2050.
2. Rolls-Royce Power Systems, headquartered in Friedrichshafen, employs around 9,000 people. Under the mtu brand, the company sells high-speed engines and propulsion systems for ships, power generation, heavy land and rail vehicles, military vehicles and for the oil and gas industry, as well as diesel and gas systems and battery containers for safety-critical applications, for continuous power generation, for combined heat and power and for microgrids, and is intensively involved in the development of climate-neutral solutions.
3. Rolls-Royce has customers in more than 150 countries, including more than 400 airlines and leasing companies, 160 armed forces and navies, and more than 5,000 energy and nuclear customers.
4. Adjusted annual revenue in 2021 was £10.95 billion, adjusted operating profit was £414 million and we invested £1.18 billion in research and development. Rolls-Royce supports a global network of 28 university technology centres through which Rolls-Royce engineers participate directly in cutting-edge scientific research.
5. Rolls-Royce Holdings plc is a listed company (LSE:RR., ADR: RYCEY, LEI: 213800EC7997ZBLZJH69).