Hydrotreated Vegetable Oil Trial

March 5th, 2020.

After successful initial trials, CMSL has introduced using HVO across our mountain to help reduce our emissions by up to 90%. This includes powering our fleet of snow clearing machines, Manitou Loader, snow making fan guns, Snow Factory, auxiliary and standby generators and workshop heaters. February  has tested this fuel to the extreme with many hours of usage, within the extreme temperatures that are common here at Cairngorm, without any negative operational issues across the machinery. Whilst our future lies in electrical power including on site renewables where possible, HVO has provided an opportunity to power existing machinery prior to further changes in technology in areas like the grooming fleet – where charging times are not viable at this point in time. Whilst HVO is more expensive than traditional red diesel,  it clearly has environmental benefits that are already being realised.