Renewable Diesel

Renewable diesel is made from a variety of fats including  animal fats, used cooking oils and distiller corn oils. Its composition has no alcohol and no oxygen, but is a true hydrocarbon, having the same properties and structure as petroleum diesel. As such, fuel refiners can drop renewable diesel into diesel fuel at any percentage and distribute it through the existing diesel pipeline and infrastructure. In fact, renewable diesel is so close to the real deal that companies can operate diesel-equipped vehicles and machinery entirely on renewable diesel, with no performance loss and without the environmental impact.

Renewable diesel is also known as hydrotreated vegetable oil (HVO) because of its common source. Since it derives from natural, organic products, HVO is 100% renewable. The world has an infinite supply of renewable diesel because it is made from products that are constantly being re-grown from the Earth’s soil. Whereas crude oil requires digging and drilling in select regions, vegetable oil comes from products that are harvested throughout the world on a seasonal basis. Simply put, the world might have a finite supply of crude oil, but there will always be vegetables as long as water-based life exists on this planet.

Renewable diesel can be made by one of three different processes: hydrotreating, thermal conversion, and biomass-to-liquid. Each process radically alters the original composition and chemical makeup of the raw material:

• Hydrotreating: Alternately known as hydrogenation, this method utilizes triglycerides, which add hydrogen to raw materials to eliminate elements of oxygen, nitrogen, and metal. Once the oil has undergone this process, it will burn cleaner as renewable diesel.
• Thermal conversion: Alternately known as depolymerization, thermal conversion creates oil out of carbonized biomass. Once the oil is derived, refinement processes are employed to render the oil appropriate for fuel purposes.
• Biomass-to-liquid: This process involves gasification, which is employed at high temperatures to convert biomass into synthetic, hydrogen-rich gas mixtures.

The benefits of renewable diesel are numerous since it works in all climates and requires no engine modifications. Renewable diesel can be used in all types of automobiles throughout the four seasons of the year, even in subzero temperatures. Vehicles that use renewable diesel can reduce their greenhouse gas emissions by up to 80%, thanks to the fuel’s highly efficient combustion and high cetane number, which is somewhere in the range of 75 to 85.

Renewable diesel is compatible with North America’s preexisting infrastructure for fuel distribution and can therefore be adopted by fuel services throughout the U.S. and Canada in place of conventional fuel types. The fuel can be stored in the same storage tanks previously used to house petroleum fuel. While renewable diesel works best when added directly to an engine, the fuel can also be mixed with biodiesel and fossil diesel.