Ground handling vehicles at Schiphol to run on Neste diesel

There are around 1,900 ground handling vehicles with a diesel engine at Schiphol airport

Ground handling vehicles at Schiphol to run on Neste diesel
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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, thanks to being produced from 100 percent renewable raw materials) w.e.f January 2023.

"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,” says an official release from Neste.

Paul Feldbrugge, responsible for the zero emission programme within KES, says: “At the moment, 40 percent 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."

Rob Wemekamp, B2B Sales Manager, EG Group adds: "KLM Equipment Services is an existing customer of EG Group in the field of lubricants. Now this cooperation 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."

This is a significant step on the way towards a zero-emission ground operation in 2030, says 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. 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."

Neste refinery in Rotterdam, The Netherlands

Peter Zonneveld, Vice President, Sales, Renewable Road Transportation, Neste says: “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. With Neste MY renewable diesel, the greenhouse gas emissions can be reduced by as much as 75-95 percent 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. With our renewables production capacity increasing to 5.5 million tonnes by the end of 2023 and further to 6.8 million tonnes by the end of 2026, we are well-equipped to help our customers around the world to make the switch to more sustainable solutions."

Amsterdam Airport Schiphol processed 1.4 million tonnes of cargo and welcomed 52.5 million passengers in 2022, the release added.

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