"I believe that what I bought was multiple cargos of virgin palm oil that has been wrongly classified as palm oil sludge." Whistle-blower and former biofuels trader via BBC News
HVO is often marketed as a clean alternative to diesel, claiming high emissions savings as they are produced from supposed waste and residues. But insiders are raising serious concerns about fraud in the industry, especially as a big share of HVO feedstocks is sourced from countries with weak sustainability oversight and strong suspicions of irregularities.
It is clear that the green claims of the HVO mix depend on how it has been certified on the way. So before you switch, do you know where your HVO has been?
How the HVO supply chain works
HVO is made from a blend of oils and fats imported from a maze of global suppliers. Along their journey, feedstocks are certified as waste or residues, which determines their sustainability. But much of this verification happens in places where oversight is weak and the legitimacy of sustainability claims is not easy to guarantee. Once blended and converted into HVO, there’s no physical way to tell whether the fuel was made from genuine waste or from virgin, unsustainable oils.
Climate benefits depend entirely on whether those feedstocks are truthfully waste or residues. Right now, much of that remains unclear. Whereas HVO used to be primarily made from palm and palm derivatives (PFAD), its top three feedstocks are now used cooking oil (UCO), palm oil mill effluent (POME), and animal fats (AF) according to Stratas Advisor’s data. All three are alleged waste products. But all three have come under scrutiny in the countries where they are sourced.
"They have to rely on certification companies in China to check that everything is OK, but China doesn't allow any inspectors in from outside." Dr Christian Bickert, a farmer with experience in biofuels via BBC News
"I called one of the board members and told them about the situation, and then I was told that they didn't want to do anything about it, because the evidence would be burned." Whistle-blower and former biofuels trader via BBC News
“We just are not able to get any level of visibility over the supply chain of HVO that would give us that level of assurance that this is truly a sustainable product," Sustainability Director at Balfour Betty via BBC News
Suspicions of fraud surround the supply chain
Strong suspicions of fraud surround the sector, as the certification system is inadequate.
Investigations from the BBC claim that external verification is difficult in some supply chain countries, including China, Indonesia and Malaysia.
This is worrying, given that these countries source a big share of the feedstocks claiming to be waste for HVO production.
Some insiders have started raising the alarms, but not much happens when concerns of fraudulent activities arise along the supply chain.
Companies have no oversight over the supply chain. Some of them are taking a step in the right direction, and will not use HVO because of this lack of reliability around its origin and sustainability.
These testimonies are not isolated, and have triggered investigations and raids along the supply chain.
In Germany, regulators linked companies to certification irregularities, raising doubts about whether claimed sustainable feedstocks actually existed in the volumes reported.
This mismatch between supply and demand is at the core of the issue. Genuine waste oils and residues like used cooking oil and animal fats are extremely limited, unlike demand. Reported use of some feedstocks like palm oil mill effluent (POME) already exceeds what could realistically be collected worldwide. When waste isn’t enough, something else fills the gap. That gap is where virgin and high-emission oils risk being added to the mix and mislabelled as sustainable.
HVO: little benefit for its cost
Even in the best-case scenario (assuming fully sustainable feedstocks and no irregularities) HVO only halves CO₂ emissions compared to fossil diesel once indirect emissions are taken into account.
France’s Ministry of the Economy went further: it found no clear environmental benefit compared to diesel, with the same tailpipe pollution and uncertain lifecycle savings.
HVO isn’t just uncertain with regards to its composition and climate impact. It’s also expensive, and it already costs more than diesel.
A reliable path forward
But there are alternatives. By 2030, electric trucks will be cheaper to buy and run than diesel and HVO. And unlike HVO, electrification offers a reliable path forward.
Battery-electric trucks eliminate tailpipe emissions entirely, cut noise and air pollution, and get cleaner over time as the electricity grid decarbonises. They do not depend on limited waste feedstocks, opaque blending, or global supply chains vulnerable to mislabelling
Logistics companies don’t need emissions savings on paper, they need the real decarbonisation that electric trucks can deliver.
HVO promises decarbonisation, but delivers uncertainty. Electrification delivers certainty on emissions, on costs, and on credibility. And in a sector built on trust and delivery that difference matters.
