One of the world’s biggest car manufacturers has turned to the restaurant industry to help them deliver their cars around the world.

Volkswagen Group has announced that the huge super-tankers which help ship their new cars around the globe will now be fuelled using leftover vegetable oil from restaurants and food production.

The first car freighter was fuelled this way in mid-November, taking 3,500 vehicles around the world. It is expected that Volkswagen will send a second ship fuelled by vegetable oil in early 2021, on a route from the Emden in Germany, via Dublin, Santander and Setubal in Portugal.

Volkswagen will use two ships via this method, saving more than 85 per cent CO2 emissions and reducing from 60,000 tonnes to 9,000 per year.

“We are the first automaker to make widespread use of this fuel. This way, we reuse waste oil in an environmentally compatible way. With 85 percent lower CO2 emissions than with conventional fossil fuels, the contribution to climate protection is enormous,” says Thomas Zernechel, Head of Volkswagen Group Logistics.

Volkswagen delivered almost 11 million vehicles globally in 2019. This change is part of a strategy to make Group Logistics even greener: another element is the use of liquefied natural gas (LNG) to power car freighters. These vessels travel between Europe, North America and Latin America. Furthermore, all rail shipments in Germany with DB Cargo are being changed over to eco-power. “This way, Volkswagen Group Logistics is helping the Group achieve net carbon neutrality by 2050,” says Zernechel.

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