Volkswagen won't give up on diesels, TDI engines can run on paraffinic fuel

German auto giant Volkswagen is not ready to give up on diesel engines despite the tightening emission norms around the world and a general anti-diesel sentiment. However, to alleviate the higher particle emission and pollution concerns, the automaker has developed a new technology for its future generation diesel engines that will be able to run on paraffinic fuels as well.

The automaker has officially announced that its latest generation of four-cylinder diesel engines are capable of using paraffinic fuels, which is a newly developed diesel that contains bio-components. Volkswagen claims that using paraffinic fuels in its four-cylinder diesel motors will ensure a significant drop in carbon emissions.

Paraffinic fuels are produced from biological residual and waste materials such as hydrotreated vegetable oil (HVO). These biofuels like HVO are already available in the market. Share of HVO is projected to increase 20 to 30 per cent in the European energy market within the next ten years.

As the automaker claims, there would be around 70-95 per cent decline in emission from these engines compared to conventional diesel motors. Volkswagen has already started equipping its cars with this new generation four-cylinder diesel power mill since June this year. The Volkswagen cars that come equipped with this engine include Tiguan TDI, Golf GTD.

The development comes as a significant move from the German auto major that has been suffering from the blow of dieselgate scandal. Volkswagen and its subsidiaries like Audi and Porsche used emission cheating software for their TDI diesel motors. The scandal resulted in the automaker facing an array of lawsuits around the world. This scandal also prompted in the automaker focusing more on development of electric vehicles.

Speaking about the new diesel engine Thomas Garbe, head of petrol and diesel fuels at Volkswagen, said that through the use of environmentally friendly fuels in the approved Volkswagen models, the company is making it possible for customers throughout Europe to significantly reduce their CO2 emissions as soon as the fuel is locally available. "For example, the use of paraffinic fuels is a sensible additional option particularly for companies with a mixed fleet made up of models with electric and conventional drives," Garbe further added.