Q&A: DAVID RICHARDSON BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT DIRECTOR, CORYTON

evo: Why do you blend your biofuels with fossil fuel? Can your biofuel be 100 per cent sustainable rather than 65 per cent, i.e. could a fuel made purely from biomass be 100 per cent carbon neutral, to satisfy EU requirements for allowing ICE vehicles beyond 2035?

DR: At the moment we are limited with the amount of sustainable chemistries required to make high-performance fuels. In some applications, this can be made easier with the use of ethanol, as it’s a really good blending component, and in these cases a 100 per cent non-fossil-derived fuel can be achieved – and we do offer this. But where alcohols are an issue, specifically for the classics market, it makes it a little more difficult. Either you add a significant amount of cost, reduce traceability of the sustainable components, lower the sustainability, or lower performance. It’s a balancing act and we’ve taken a more pragmatic approach to our fuels for the time being.

evo: Sustainable biofuels are traceable to confirm their sustainability. What was the origin of the bio element of the fuel we tested?

DR: It was derived from agricultural residues that were otherwise destined for landfill.

evo: What are the most common bio elements in Sustain Classic Super 80?

DR: It’s what we refer to as a ‘bio-hydrocarbon’ – this itself is not a finished gasoline as you know it, so we also add bio-ethers, which are derived from ethanol.

evo: Apart from Motor Spirit at Bicester Heritage and direct from yourselves, is Sustain Super 80 available anywhere else?

DR: Not at the moment but we’ve set ourselves an ambitious goal to have six to twelve pumps around the UK, along with two to three more distribution points for our barrelled fuels, within 2024.

evo: If it’s delivered direct, how much is Sustain Super 80 per litre? And is there a delivery charge and a deposit on the cans?

RD: The fuel used for the test, Sustain Classic Super 80, currently retails on the pump at £4.65 per litre; drummed this pushes the price to between around £4.85 and £5.10, depending on the drum size. Delivery is dependent on how much is shipped and to where in the country, but somewhere in the region of £120 for up to 800 litres.

evo: Are there any similarities between the additive package in Sustain Super 80 and, say, Shell V-power?

RD: There will be similarities such as detergents, but thereafter we’ve tailored these fuels specifically to look after classic vehicles by adding additional additive technologies to stop oxidisation and the interaction with metals.

Thanks to all at Litchfield and Coryton for their assistance with this feature.