Verdis Polaris™ Aura – second generation B100 – The advanced green one

Perstorp has been supplying Verdis Polaris™ B100 for heavy vehicles since 2012. This fuel has been welcomed by transport-intensive businesses that want to reduce their climate impact. Verdis Polaris™ B100 is one of the diesel replacements with the best climate benefit on the market. Perstorp is now extending its biodiesel range with Verdis Polaris™ Aura, the first biodiesel in Sweden that has a 100% fossil-free origin. Verdis Polaris™ B100 will now be called Verdis Polaris™ Flora.

Market’s best climate benefit
“We are launching the next generation of biodiesel now because we are committed to forcing development in the right direction. The EU’s target is that 10% of fuel used for transport shall be from renewable energy. Sweden is considering implementing completely fossil fuel-free transport by 2030. Meanwhile the EU Commission has suggested restricting biofuel from food crops in order to promote more advanced fuels. Perstorp is involved in a number of projects aimed at exchanging rapeseed oil with, for example, oil extracted from algae,” explains Lars Lind, Managing Director of Perstorp BioProducts AB.

In addition to containing a base of the finest rapeseed from Swedish agriculture, Verdis Polaris™ Aura contains renewable methanol. It would therefore be fully exempt from energy and carbon taxes that were introduced at the start of the year. It also benefits the climate by enabling carbon reduction of over 60%. 

Climate-smart biodiesel with patented post-treatment process
Verdis Polaris™ is produced in Stenungsund at Scandinavia’s leading rapeseed methyl ester (RME) plant. The technology used in production is called Esterfip-H, which is a special process using fast catalysts that produce a very pure biodiesel of the highest quality. Perstorp has a Swedish patent for the post-treatment process that simulates winter and storage. This triggers the natural precipitates in the biodiesel and they can be captured during the production process instead of ending up in the customer’s tanks and causing operational disruption to the vehicle.

“With Verdis Polaris™ Aura we can help our customers to further reduce their environmental impact. The environment is an important competitive factor and both private transport companies and public transport operators can win over consumer trust by offering transport based on the market’s most climate-smart biodiesel,” says Susanne Eckersten, product manager for Verdis Polaris™. 

No excise duty
“The Perstorp production site in Stenungsund produces over 35,000 tonnes of Verdis Polaris™ per year, so far for use in heavy goods vehicles. The current Swedish system for sustainability promotion has contributed to the strong development we have had so far in Sweden, and the pending quota regulation will support positive future development. Perstorp supports the Swedish government’s long-term goals for transport free of fossil fuel by 2030 and we are already working towards that vision,” says Lars Lind.