Digital Fuel Twin: A Cloud-Based System to Verify Carbon-Neutral Fuel Use in Combustion Fleets

6:17 pm UTC June 4, 2025 Jun 4, 2025 | by: Bosch | Transport

(Photo by: Bosch)

As the transportation sector accelerates efforts to decarbonize, proving the use of renewable synthetic fuels in conventional combustion vehicles remains a challenge. Enter the Digital Fuel Twin—a cloud-enabled solution developed to track, document, and verify the climate impact of synthetic fuels across entire fleets. Designed to offer seamless sustainability reporting, this tool could help redefine the emissions narrative for legacy combustion engines.

In a push to reduce carbon emissions from road transport, particularly in logistics and freight, engineers are turning to synthetic fuels as a near-term solution. However, tracking the carbon benefits of these fuels requires more than just switching supply; verifiable digital documentation is key. The new Digital Fuel Twin offers precisely that: a system embedded within the vehicle that logs and authenticates low-carbon fuels in real time.

At its core, the Digital Fuel Twin is a digital ledger for fuel lifecycle data. It captures essential variables—fuel origin, carbon content, volume dispensed—and securely links them via cloud infrastructure to vehicles and fueling stations. Through automated “digital handshakes,” the platform confirms every instance of fuel transfer and records it in a tamper-proof environment. This enables fleet operators to quantify and audit their CO₂ savings for individual vehicles.

“Bosch’s Digital Fuel Twin makes it easy for companies to prove that they’re using renewable synthetic fuels,” said Thomas Pauer, president of Bosch’s Power Solutions division.

Currently, the Digital Fuel Twin is being field-tested during the Tour d’Europe, where participating combustion vehicles are exclusively refueled with certified synthetic fuels across multiple public stations. The tool may soon play a larger regulatory role: if EU policymakers approve the reclassification of vehicles using only synthetic fuels as "zero-emission," this platform could become essential for compliance verification.

Data Validation Across the Supply Chain

The software architecture is designed for end-to-end traceability. Synthetic fuel producers first input production and distribution data, detailing quantities sold, carbon intensity, and delivery timelines. Fleet operators then report consumption volumes and fueling schedules. These records are cross-verified against vehicle sensor data and filling station logs. Only when entries align across all sources is the fuel certified and its environmental profile logged.

Every transaction is mirrored in a “digital twin”—a secure virtual replica of the physical fuel’s environmental footprint—stored within a protected cloud environment. This twin is then accessible for audits, regulatory checks, or corporate sustainability disclosures.

To ensure robust security and transparency, the system is being co-developed with partners across the fuel supply chain, including OEMs, fuel distributors, and logistics firms. Although currently installed as a retrofit module, plans are underway to integrate the Digital Fuel Twin directly into vehicle electronics from 2026 onward. This will help ensure end-to-end authenticity in tracking fuel usage and prevent tampering.

A New Life for Combustion Technology?

Renewable synthetic fuels have long been available but underutilized, mainly due to infrastructure and policy gaps. These fuels are made from renewable sources—plant-based waste (like HVO100, derived from used cooking oils and plant residues) or synthesized using renewable electricity and captured CO₂.

Technically known as HVO100 and E85, these fuels can cut well-to-wheel CO₂ emissions by up to 90% compared to traditional diesel and gasoline. While Germany only recently allowed HVO100 sales (as of 2024), countries like Sweden and the Netherlands have supported them for years, with thousands of compatible fueling stations across Europe.

From an engineering standpoint, combining such fuels with advanced digital verification systems like the Digital Fuel Twin creates a credible path for combustion vehicles to remain operational and compliant in a carbon-constrained future.