Diesel fuel question
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Bmyers
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Renewable diesel and biodiesel are not the same fuel. Renewable diesel, previously known as green diesel, is a hydrocarbon produced most often by hydrotreating and also via gasification, pyrolysis, and other biochemical and thermochemical technologies. It meets ASTM D975 specification for petroleum diesel. Biodiesel is a mono-alkyl ester produced via transesterification. Biodiesel meets ASTM D6751 and is approved for blending with petroleum diesel.
If you go to the above link it explains it even more.
If you go to the above link it explains it even more.
Skeets, renewable diesel is fuel used in a diesel tractor that is used to plant seeds that produce a usable food source!! 
armylifer
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Would you please put that in English? I read that same thing in a news article a few days ago and I did not understand it then and your re-write of it does not make it any clearer.
Bmyers
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The simple answer is the way the diesel is created. They both use biological matter to be created, but the process they use to make the diesel is different. The diesel made with renewable process is labeled 'R' and the biodiesel is labeled 'B'. You can run 100% R diesel and no petroleum and have the similar results as with oil based (traditional) diesel. With B diesel you will see it blended such as B20 that you see at many of the pumps. B diesel cannot be used at 100%, but must be blended. R diesel can be 100% and you can tell the amount by the number such as R100, R80, etc.
Hope this helps.
One additional footnote, R and B can be blended together along with traditional diesel. It would be labeled, for example, R40B20, which would be 40% renewable, 20% biodiesel, and 40% traditional diesel.
armylifer
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Great explanation but the nagging question is, what is renewable Diesel made from? What is the renewable source? Can I grow it at home?
Bmyers
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The simple answer is yes. It has been made from sugar, corn, soybeans, animal fat, even grass. Basically anything that you can use to make biodiesel, you can use to make renewable diesel.
The difference isn't so much the product being used, but the process used.
GreensvilleJay
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'Renewable' diesel might refer to fuel created from landfill/compost sites ? Local gas company wants me to pay $3 MORE per xx cu metres if they use R-natgas instead of FF-natgas.....
THAT ain't going to happen !!!
THAT ain't going to happen !!!
Bmyers
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Yes.
The difference is the way it is made. At the refinery there are at least four ways I know they make gasoline, Hydrocracker, Distilling Unit, Coker, and Cat Cracker, all different ways of breaking hydrocarbon chains.
That is why in my first post about it included the methods, which that makes the difference between the end product.
Just like petroleum products, depending on the carbon chain length determines what product you get (propane, butane, diesel, gasoline, etc.). The renewable diesel uses the same base fuel as biodiesel, but because of the process the renewable diesel is able to be a direct replacement for petroleum diesel.
The current downside is the cost of making it compared to the petroleum process.
Soooooo this may have been on the market for some time, but not marked as such, and it is safe to run in ALL diesel powered equipment with out crazy side effects like with alcohol based fuels ? Crazy huh
All you need to remember is that biodiesel and renewable diesel cost more and make you feel good until black algae globs plug your filters and dissolve your old rubber gaskets and hoses.
Had a lot of issues with stand by generators that ad bio diesel put in them. They run for just long enough to get the fuel warmed up a but then sit till the next run cycle or power outage. Then the fuel cools down and condensation happens. Then the call in the middle of a snow storm, "it stated Then shut off." Learned quick that the tank needed to be kept pretty full and started treating the tanks with an algae killer. Nasty stuff, but effective. Doesn't do anything for the trapped water in the tank.
Bmyers
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Here is an article comparing the two. You will notice there is a key line in there that explains why biodiesel was adopted before renewable:
Biodiesel is made using a process called transesterification, which can be less capital-intensive than the hydrotreating process that produces renewable diesel.
Yet, renewable diesel is complete replacement for petro based diesel unlike biodiesel that needs to be mixed.
Biodiesel is made using a process called transesterification, which can be less capital-intensive than the hydrotreating process that produces renewable diesel.
Yet, renewable diesel is complete replacement for petro based diesel unlike biodiesel that needs to be mixed.
Renewable diesel vs. biodiesel
Both biofuels can help ease carbon emissions, but do you know how they are different? Read more.
www.chsinc.com
That is not an issue with renewable, but is with bio. What separates renewable from traditional is the source material and what separates renewable from bio is the process. So it is more expensive to make but depending on the source material the C02 emissions produced are then reused by the source material to grow again. However, renewable is a full replacement for traditional diesel rather than a substitute or mixable product.
Here is a video that explains the theory of renewable biofuels from cash crops. Two caveats: 1) this is speaking about just ethanol but the base principle behind what makes a fuel a renewable fuel is the same, 2) the exact carbon exchange between the types of plants may not be the same (i.e. it probably isn't [or could be I'm not a rocket surgeon] 60% C02 reduction with saw grass when talking about diesel). However, it does explain the fundamental principle of what makes it "renewable."