HVO is a hydrocarbon, not an ester: which is why it behaves so differently from FAME and why the conversation moves so quickly past the specification. Made by hydrotreating vegetable oils, waste oils and fats, it is specified under EN 15940 for paraffinic diesel, and HVO100 can be used neat in approved applications. We broker it between producers, majors, distributors and large fleet users. What is actually being traded is the feedstock and the certificate: two identical litres of EN 15940 fuel can be worth materially different money depending on what they were made from and what the buyer can count.
- 1Feedstock pretreated on metals and phosphorus
- 2Oxygen removed under hydrogen
- 3Isomerised for cold flow
- 4Fractionated into diesel, jet and naphtha cuts
- 5Blended without a blend wall
Hydrotreating strips the oxygen out entirely, so the product is a hydrocarbon and not an ester. That is why HVO has no blend limit where FAME does. Pretreatment is the gate: silicon around one part per million is the sharpest limit we see, and it poisons the catalyst before anything else does.
Why HVO is easy to handle and hard to buy
Technically it is the most forgiving renewable fuel on the market. It has no ester content, so none of FAME's characteristic problems: no oxidation stability limit that degrades in the tank, no microbial growth driven by water absorption, no sterol glucoside filter blocking, no seasonal blending gymnastics. Cold-flow properties can be set very low in production, storage life is long, and it is a genuine drop-in for approved applications.
Commercially it is the opposite of easy. Much of the European volume is contracted forward by parties covering a legal obligation under national RED III implementations, so genuine spot availability is thinner and more seasonal than headline production figures suggest. A seller holding certified volume in a defined delivery window has more than the raw supply numbers imply, and a buyer who waits for a soft spot market often waits a long time.
EN 15940, and what a real HVO cargo looks like
HVO is not EN 590 diesel and does not try to be. It is specified under EN 15940, the standard for paraffinic diesel, which recognises two classes and allows up to 7.0 % (V/V) FAME. Quoting the class is not pedantry: an engine approval or a fuel clause written against class A will not accept class B.
| Property | Class A / Class B | Typical HVO cargo |
|---|---|---|
| Cetane number | 70 min / 51 min | Above 70 |
| FAME content | Up to 7.0 % (V/V) permitted | Nil unless blended |
| Density at 15 C | Outside the EN 590 band by design | 770 to 790 kg/m3 |
| Kinematic viscosity at 40 C | Per standard | 2.0 to 4.0 mm2/s |
| Sulphur | Per standard | 5 mg/kg max |
| Flash point | Per standard | Above 70 C |
| Total aromatics | Paraffinic by definition | 1 % (m/m) max |
| Polycyclic aromatics | Paraffinic by definition | 0.02 % max |
| Water content | Per standard | 200 mg/kg max |
| Ash | Per standard | 0.001 % (m/m) max |
| Copper strip corrosion | Class 1 | Class 1 |
| CFPP and cloud point | By national annex and season | -15 C summer, -34 C winter grades |
Density is where HVO surprises people who buy it like diesel. At around 780 kg/m3 against roughly 835 for EN 590, a tonne of HVO is more litres and a litre carries less energy. Contract in the unit you are actually settling in, and say so in the offer, because a volumetric price and a mass price are not the same trade and the gap is not small.
The other thing worth settling early is the winter grade. HVO reaches very low CFPP values, but that is a production choice with a yield cost behind it, not a free property of the molecule. A buyer asking for -34 C in July should expect to be told what it costs.
HVO against FAME, side by side
The most common question we get, and the one where a wrong assumption costs the most. They are both made from the same feedstocks and they are not the same product at all: FAME is an ester, HVO is a hydrocarbon.
| FAME (biodiesel) | HVO (renewable diesel) | |
|---|---|---|
| Chemistry | Fatty acid methyl ester, contains oxygen | Paraffinic hydrocarbon, no oxygen |
| Standard | EN 14214 | EN 15940 |
| Blend limit | Commonly 7 % (B7) in ordinary diesel; higher blends need approval | Drop-in. Can be used neat (HVO100) in approved engines |
| Density at 15 C | 860 to 900 kg/m3 | 770 to 790 kg/m3 |
| Cetane number | 51 minimum | 70 or above for class A |
| Storage stability | Ages. Oxidation stability 8 h minimum and falls in storage | Very stable. No esters to hydrolyse |
| Cold flow | Feedstock dependent; saturated feedstocks give poor CFPP | Excellent, and tunable in production at a yield cost |
| Water and microbial growth | Hygroscopic; tank hygiene matters | Not hygroscopic |
| Materials compatibility | Attacks some elastomers; copper catalyses oxidation | Behaves like fossil diesel |
| Feedstock tolerance | Tolerant. Can run high FFA material after pretreatment | Fussy. Sulphur, phosphorus, silicon and metals govern acceptance |
| Capital cost of the plant | Low. Many small producers | High. Few, large producers |
| Iodine value ceiling | Yes: 120 max under EN 14214 | No equivalent limit; unsaturation is hydrogenated away |
Read the last two rows together, because that is the whole feedstock story. A FAME plant will take material an HVO plant refuses, but EN 14214 then caps what that material may be: highly unsaturated oils cannot make compliant European FAME. An HVO plant has no iodine value problem at all, but it will reject the same cargo on silicon or phosphorus. That is why the same parcel is worth different money to the two of them, and why the right question is never simply what is the price.
For a buyer the practical split is this: if you need a drop-in fuel for an existing fleet with no tank changes and long storage, that is HVO. If you are blending to a mandate at B7 and price is the driver, that is FAME. See FAME biodiesel and parameters explained.
The eight ASTM D7566 routes, and why the annex number matters
SAF is not one product. ASTM D7566 approves synthesised blending components under eight separate annexes, and each annex is a different production route with its own feedstock, its own cost base and its own blend ceiling. An airline buying SAF is buying an annex, not a concept.
| Annex | Route | Feedstock in practice |
|---|---|---|
| A1, FT-SPK | Fischer-Tropsch synthetic paraffinic kerosene | Gasified biomass, MSW, coal or gas |
| A2, HEFA-SPK | Hydroprocessed esters and fatty acids | UCO, animal fats, vegetable oils. The route that carries almost all real volume today |
| A3, SIP | Synthesised iso-paraffins | Fermented sugars |
| A4, SPK/A | Fischer-Tropsch with aromatics | As A1, with aromatics retained |
| A5, ATJ-SPK | Alcohol to jet | Ethanol or iso-butanol |
| A6, CHJ | Catalytic hydrothermolysis jet | Fats and oils |
| A7, HC-HEFA-SPK | Hydrocarbon HEFA | Algal oil |
| A8, ATJ-SKA | Alcohol to jet, synthetic kerosene with aromatics | Ethanol |
Most annexes cap out at 50 % blend. That ceiling is a certification limit on the finished fuel, not a shortage of ambition, and it is why 100 % SAF flights are demonstrations rather than routine operations. If a conversation assumes neat SAF into an existing fleet, that assumption is worth correcting early.
For a feedstock seller the practical consequence is narrow and useful: A2 (HEFA) is where your material goes. UCO, category 1 and 2 animal fats and certain vegetable oils feed that route. If someone offers you a SAF offtake for a feedstock that no approved annex accepts, the offtake is not real yet.
Specification and grades
| Standard | EN 15940 for paraffinic diesel. Class A and B differ in cetane and density ranges. |
|---|---|
| HVO100 vs blend component | Neat use in approved applications, or blending into fossil diesel at a stated ratio. |
| CFPP / cold-flow grade | Set in production by isomerisation. Summer and winter grades; confirm the destination requirement. |
| Cetane number | Characteristically high, typically well above fossil diesel. |
| Density | Lower than fossil diesel; relevant to volumetric fuel consumption and to blend calculations. |
| Sulphur | Very low. |
| Feedstock | UCO, animal fat, POME, technical vegetable oils. Determines Annex IX status and therefore value. |
| Certification | ISCC EU or REDcert, with a valid proof of sustainability per delivery. |
| GHG saving | The actual figure on the PoS where the buyer's claim depends on it, not a default value. |
| Mandate treatment | How the volume counts in the specific destination member state, national, not EU-wide. |
| Delivery basis | In-tank, ex-works, barge, truck or pipeline. |
| OEM approval | For neat HVO100 in a fleet, the engine manufacturer's approval position matters to the end user. |
Feedstock decides the value
This is where HVO deals are won and lost. The physical fuel is fungible; the sustainability characteristics travelling with it are not. Material made from an Annex IX Part B feedstock such as used cooking oil or category 1 and 2 animal fat sits under the 1.7 % of transport energy cap per member state. Material from Part A feedstocks counts against the advanced sub-target instead. Crop-based feedstock is a different category again.
Two warnings that save real money. First, multipliers are now member state specific under RED III, the Netherlands and Germany have moved away from double counting in their national implementations, so a grade described as "double counting" means nothing until you name the destination market. Second, check the mass balance accounting period against your delivery schedule; a certificate that is valid but out of period is a problem discovered at the worst possible time.
Feedstock detail lives on the source pages: used cooking oil, animal fats and POME.
What an HVO buyer will ask you
We work with producers placing output, distributors and majors covering obligations, and larger fleet and industrial users buying HVO100 directly. Because we are independent and never take title, we can tell a buyer plainly when an offered parcel will not survive their own compliance review, which in a market where the certificate carries most of the value saves far more than negotiating the price.
Related products from the same hydrotreating process: bionaphtha and SAF.
What an HVO plant actually demands of a feedstock
This is the part producers ask us about most and find hardest to get a straight answer on. A hydrotreater runs at high temperature and pressure over an expensive catalyst, and that catalyst is the whole economics of the plant. Phosphorus and metals poison it, and the damage is cumulative rather than recoverable: every tonne of dirty feed shortens the run.
That is why pretreatment exists and why a buyer will interrogate your contaminant figures far harder than your FFA.
| Phosphorus | Commonly capped in the region of 30 ppm, with tighter operations wanting 15, 5 or lower still. Comes from phospholipids, which is exactly what degumming is there to remove. |
|---|---|
| Alkali and alkaline earth metals | Sodium, potassium, calcium and magnesium. Typically limited to around 10 ppm total, often 5 or 1 for tighter units. Sodium and potassium arrive with caustic refining and catalyst residues; calcium and magnesium with the feedstock itself. |
| Other metals | Iron, copper and the rest, on a similar order to the alkali metals. Iron often signals tank and pipework condition rather than the feedstock. |
| Silicon | Very tight, commonly a few ppm and often 1. Usually arrives from antifoam agents used upstream, which is a nasty surprise because nobody thinks of antifoam as contamination. |
| Nitrogen | Far more tolerant, with limits in the hundreds of ppm, but it consumes hydrogen and affects the catalyst, so it is priced rather than ignored. |
| Water and impurities | You pay freight on both, and they drive the pretreatment load. Report them or a buyer will assume the worst. |
For scale: untreated fats, oils and greases can arrive carrying anywhere from a few ppm to a thousand ppm phosphorus and up to several hundred ppm total metals. The gap between that and the figures above is what pretreatment costs, and it is the single biggest reason two parcels of nominally the same product are quoted at very different prices. If you are selling, put phosphorus, the metals scan and silicon on your analysis unprompted. Almost nobody does, and it changes how you are read.
Frequently asked questions
Where can I follow HVO market news and developments?
This page carries a rolling news window with HVO and renewable diesel developments from public industry sources, updated continuously. For how HVO is actually quoted and what moves the price, see prices and market reads; for the feedstock side, the HVO, SAF and bionaphtha overview ties the three products together.
What is the difference between HVO and biodiesel?
Chemistry, and it drives everything else. HVO is a paraffinic hydrocarbon with no oxygen in the molecule, made by hydrotreating. FAME biodiesel is an ester and does contain oxygen. That is why HVO drops straight into any diesel engine without modification while FAME is normally blended at low percentages, why HVO stores far better, and why they are sold against different standards: EN 15940 for HVO, EN 14214 for FAME. Quoting the wrong standard in an offer signals inexperience faster than almost anything else.
Does HVO perform better in cold weather?
Yes, and by a wide margin. HVO can be produced to a cold filter plugging point well below minus twenty degrees, while FAME typically starts causing trouble somewhere between minus five and plus fifteen depending on the feedstock, which is exactly why the cold flow additive market exists on the FAME side. See additives and blending for what actually moves those numbers and, more importantly, whether your contract even allows you to move them.
How long does HVO keep in storage?
Considerably longer than FAME, because there is no ester group to oxidise and it does not pick up water the same way. Suppliers quote storage lives in years rather than months, against roughly a year for conventional diesel. Treat the headline figures as supplier claims rather than guarantees and check the conditions attached, but the direction is not in dispute and it matters if you are holding stock through a season.
What contaminant limits does an HVO producer apply?
Every plant sets its own and the contract governs, but the shape is consistent. Phosphorus is commonly capped around 30 ppm and often much lower. Alkali and alkaline earth metals, meaning sodium, potassium, calcium and magnesium, are typically limited to roughly 10 ppm in total and often 5 or 1. Other metals such as iron and copper sit on a similar order. Silicon is tighter still, frequently a few ppm or 1. Nitrogen is more tolerant, in the hundreds of ppm. These are catalyst poisons and the damage accumulates, which is why buyers interrogate them harder than they interrogate FFA.
Why does silicon matter so much in HVO feedstock?
Because it poisons the hydrotreatment catalyst and the limits are among the tightest on the whole list, often a single ppm. The awkward part is where it comes from: antifoam agents used upstream, which nobody thinks of as contamination. It is one of the most common reasons a parcel that looked fine on paper fails at the gate, and one of the parameters most often missing from an analysis.
What is the difference between HVO and FAME biodiesel?
HVO is a hydrocarbon made by hydrotreating fats and oils; FAME is an ester made by transesterification. HVO is specified under EN 15940, has excellent cold-flow properties, long storage life and no oxidation stability or microbial growth problems, and HVO100 can be used neat in approved applications. FAME is specified under EN 14214, is normally blended, and carries seasonal cold-flow and stability constraints that HVO does not.
What is HVO100?
Neat HVO, 100 % hydrotreated vegetable oil with no fossil diesel blended in, used directly as a fuel in applications approved for it. Because it is a paraffinic hydrocarbon under EN 15940 rather than an ester, many diesel engines can run it, but the engine manufacturer's approval position is what matters to a fleet operator and should be checked rather than assumed.
Why is HVO hard to buy on the spot market?
Because much of the European volume is contracted forward by parties covering a legal obligation under national RED III implementations. Genuine spot availability is thinner and more seasonal than headline production capacity suggests, which puts sellers holding certified volume in a defined delivery window in a stronger position than the raw supply numbers imply.
Does HVO count double towards renewable fuel targets?
That depends on the member state and on the feedstock. Under RED III, national implementations diverge and several markets, including the Netherlands and Germany, have moved away from multipliers. Confirm the treatment in the specific destination market for the specific feedstock rather than relying on how the market worked historically.
What cold-flow properties can HVO achieve?
Cold-flow behaviour is set during production through isomerisation, and HVO can be produced to very low CFPP values, considerably lower than FAME can reach without additives or winterisation. The practical answer is that you specify the grade you need for the destination and season and the producer makes it, rather than discovering a limitation after delivery.
Which feedstocks is HVO made from?
Used cooking oil, animal fats, POME, technical and non-food vegetable oils, and crop oils. The feedstock determines the Annex IX classification and therefore the value, which is why the first question on any HVO offer should be what it was made from and under which certification scheme.
Market news
The most recent headlines touching this market, followed by wider news from across the feedstock and renewable fuel sector. The links go to the publisher; we do not host or edit their reporting, and a headline here is not our endorsement of it. Scroll for more.
- Kimchi waste could become viable feedstock for bioplastics
- Braskem biobased polymer helps Deterra drug disposal pouch earn packaging awards
- Eni and PETRONAS to explore high-performance bio-gasoline
- Linglong signs $2 billion Egypt investment MoU
- BTMA to represent European national associations at Tyres Europe board meetings
- Osaka Gas claims STS LNG bunkering first in Osaka Bay
- ISWG-GHG 22: Non-profits react
- USTC brings Copenhagen-based offices together in new hub
- ORLEN instigates new Baltic regional energy initiative
- TotalEnergies Lubmarine launches lubricant for 4-stroke medium speed marine engines
- IMO carbon price heads for December showdown
- LyondellBasell: Pyrolysis Reactors Installed for MoReTec Plant in Wesseling
- Sustainable aviation fuel pioneer completes successful trials
- Louis Dreyfus Company to generate biogas from citrus waste
- Nature by Design: A decade of IUCN, Monaco collaboration driving circular solutions for biodiversity
- European Digital Sustainability Skills Conference
- UCL reacts to IMO ISWG-GHG: ‘Steady progress on the Net Zero Framework’ made but ‘high uncertainty’ remains
- ISWG-GHG 22: ‘Genuine willingness’ for further NZF progress, observes Chair
18 headlines, updated automatically. Last refreshed .
Sources and further reading
Primary sources for the rules and figures on this page, so you can check them yourself. Legislation is amended: always read the consolidated text on the date that matters to you.
- Document checklist: exactly which papers a European buyer asks for, per product
- SPECIMEN safety data sheet: HVO renewable diesel (worked example, all 16 sections)
- EN 15940:2023, paraffinic diesel fuel requirements
- Directive (EU) 2018/2001 (RED II), consolidated text on EUR-Lex
- Directive (EU) 2023/2413 (RED III) on EUR-Lex
- ISCC System, the certification scheme itself
Who to ask about HVO / renewable diesel
Just ask. Volume to place or a mandate to cover? Tell us the feedstock, the scheme and the delivery window. You get Bart van den Brug on the other end, same working day, in English or Dutch, and across the team also in French, Portuguese, Polish, Czech and Russian.
On how we work: on the feedstocks and fuels on this site we are a broker. We never take title, we do not trade our own book, and we are paid a commission on business that concludes. Additives are the one exception: those we also buy and sell for our own account, and we say in which capacity we are acting before you commit to anything. Either way you will hear it from us when the answer is no, or when your parcel is not ready for the conversation you want to have. A market read or a second opinion on a specification costs nothing and commits you to nothing.
Happy to look at whatever you have, even if it is half an analysis and a question.
+31 6 115 83 448
bart@sustainablecommodities.eu
Sustainable Commodities 3 B.V., Lemmer, the Netherlands
Ask about HVO / renewable diesel
Specification, volume, location and certification are enough to start.
Or e-mail us directly: bart@sustainablecommodities.eu
Last reviewed 08 September 2026. Regulatory references are given for orientation and are not legal advice: verify against the current Official Journal text before contracting.