23/03/22

Alternative fuels help stop users seeing Red

Since 1961 red diesel has provided a cost-effective solution to farmers and other businesses that need to use diesel as part of their day to day operation. Identical to normal road diesel but with the addition of a red die to distinguish is as for specialised business use, red diesel allowed users to avoid paying the tax on fuel effectively halving the price per litre.

From the 1st of April 2022 all the rules are changing leaving many businesses facing a sudden increase in their fuel bills as the tax rate will become the same as standard road diesel. Whilst this impact will not be felt by all, as hospitals and a greater majority of agricultural users will still receive the reduced tax rate this still leaves potential increases for many of our pet cremation and alternative incineration machines.

However, we are happy to say that this is not the end of affordable fuel. In fact even at the full road diesel price, our machines are so fuel efficient the impact will hardly dent the profits of most of our customers. However for the majority of owners their machines are already able to operate on alternatives to red diesel and these are priced at very close to pre-tax increase red diesel prices.

The diesel burners that many of our cremators and incinerators are shipped with are in fact already able to operate on several alternative fossil fuels as long as they conform to heating oil standard BS2869 Class A2 or Class D, these are also able to operate using Kerosene based fuels that meet the following BS2869 class Cl or CZ specification.

Before you switch fuels we would always recommend that you contact the fuel supplier to discover if there are any special requirements to switch over. Most commonly these will require you to fully empty and clean the tank and fuel lines before introducing the new fuel into your burners.

We are aware that the following branded fuels are currently compatible needing very little preparation: Therma35 heating oil – Prema 35 heating oil – Furnace Flame – IHO (Industrial Heating Oil).

These fuels and others are now being sold as a simple replacement for red diesel without having any negative impact on performance and requiring no alterations to the burners. This is for fuels supplied in accordance to BS2689 and as a direct replacement for fuels meeting the standard BS2869. Other fuels that do not meet these standards may operate in the same manner however as they are untested we could not encourage our users to use these without first completing further research as they may meet the standards in quality but just not formally. However for all replacement fuels we would recommend discussing this with us first so that we can confirm the compatibility with your burners this includes fuels that may currently be classed as compatible with some burners this may not be the case with yours. 

Red diesel and road diesel are still able to be used however if you are concerned about the price increases and would like to continue to receive the costs savings that you are used to we would recommend that you speak with your current fuel supplier about alternate options that you may have available to you, and also you can contact the team here who can run through our options. Just email sales@addfield.comor call us on +44 01543 571280.

These alternative fuels are also available outside of the UK and may be able to provide you with a cost saving alternative to your current diesel bills, as such it is well worth having that conversation.