Three partners from Ernst & Young LLP have been appointed administrators of HVO supplier Green Biofuels, effective 02 October 2023
Green Biofuels Ltd (GBF), which is the authorised supplier of a drop in diesel fuel, GD+, has gone into administration with the appointment of three partners from Ernst & Young LLP appointed as Joint Administrators.
A communication sent out by GBF, which has been seen by Freight Carbon Zero, informs suppliers that the ”Joint Administrators are continuing to trade the Company whilst a sales process is conducted for the Company’s business and assets and in the meantime we will continue to use your services.”
In a statement from GBF, a spokesperson said: “Green Biofuels Ltd is open for business as usual, as is our Irish subsidiary. We continue to trade with our conscientious partners and meet the high demand for our advanced Gd+HVO, a fossil free alternative to dirty diesel. As an organisation with a nine-year track record of strong growth, we expect the future will be bright for many more years to come. Our planet has an immediate need for low-carbon, low-cost fuels and GBF’s advanced HVO products offer a ready solution.”
In February 2022, bp acquired a 30% stake in the business and it is unclear whether bp will step in now to rescue the business. At the time bp said in an announcement ”bp’s investment will support GBF’s growth as it works with businesses looking to transition away from using traditional diesel fuel in their assets, such as transport vehicles, temporary generators and construction machinery. The investment in GBF will expand bp’s global biofuels portfolio and its lower carbon solutions for UK customers, in line with its strategic aim of growing its bioenergy businesses as it transitions to become an integrated energy company.”
A BP spokeswoman told our sister title Motor Transport Green Biofuels had suffered from “cash flow issues”. She added: “We are a minority shareholder in Green Biofuels and we spent a lot of time and dedicated substantial effort to support them - we worked intensively with them - and we will be supporting the administrators in carrying out their statutory duties and assessing all options.”
She continued: “We are continuing to supply the company with HVO as they are still trading right now and have customers to supply.”
The Renewable Transport Fuels Association (RTFA) of which GBF is a member, put out the following statement: ”We are sorry to hear of this development. GBF is a member of the Renewable Transport Fuel Association, and we wish its employees well through this difficult time. We don’t envisage any negative impacts on the perception of HVO as a fuel, or biofuels in general, and remain confident that: HVO is a high quality, drop-in diesel replacement, which achieves high greenhouse gas savings; HVO will continue to be sought after as a fuel which may be used in diesel engines without any requirement for modifying the engine. It has excellent storage properties, and remains liquid at very low temperatures (hence its prevalence in Scandinavia).”
HVO stands for Hydrotreated Vegetable Oil. It is made by treating oil-based feedstocks with Hydrogen. The UK encourages the use of waste-based feedstocks, and the RTFO statistics demonstrate HVO supplied to the UK market is sourced from waste oils and fats (e.g. used cooking oil). HVO comprises a small but growing proportion of the renewable fuel used in the UK - 8% of the renewable fuel market in 2022 according to offical estimates and achieves a greenhouse gas saving of 88% in comparison with diesel.
Information on renewable fuel suppliers can be found on Zemo’s Renewable Fuel Assurance Scheme.
