Environmentally conscious mobility will be able to focus on new fuels from waste.

Nothing is thrown away, everything is transformed. We could thus summarize the principles for which we came to design a biofuel that was more environmentally friendly and more performing than plant-derived biodiesel, creating a product that also used waste fats and oils.

There is a saying that says: was the hen or the egg born first? In the case of Diesel we could ask ourselves if biodiesel or Diesel from Hydrocarbons was born first.

The answer is not as obvious as it seems, because history tells us that biodiesel was born first, through the studies of scientists E. Duffy and J. Patrick who made the first transesterification of vegetable oil in 1853 to make the first work diesel engine.

On August 10, 1893 Rudolf Diesel started a biodiesel-powered engine for the first time and subsequently presented it at the Paris international exhibition in 1893, providing a feed with biofuel produced from peanut oil.

During the 20s of the last century, the manufacturers of automotive engines modified their products to be able to use the new diesel derived from oil, with the aim of exploiting the lower viscosity of petroleum diesel at the expense of the vegetable one.

In addition, the oil industries focused on the automotive market managing to produce a cheaper fuel than the vegetable one , decreeing the end of biofuel.

For some years, environmental concerns and the reduction in the price difference between the plant and fossil products have brought non-fossil products to the attention of the market.

Today, a further step has been taken by designing a fuel, which not only does not come from fossil sources, but also includes in its recipe deriving from the waste of fats and oils .

But what are the differences between biodiesel and renewable diesel?

Biodiesel is obtained through the processing of sunflower oil, rapeseed or other types of plants, and has a viscosity comparable with fossil fuel oil. Its use normally does not foresee a 100% use in the engine , but is used through a mixture with traditional diesel fuel, this because of the greater solvent power that would put at risk some gaskets inside older engines.

In areas where the climate is particularly harsh, the use of biodiesel, due to the esters contained, which increase the melting point of the mixture, requires heating the tanks.

From an environmental point of view, there are lights and shadows on the product, compared to fossil-derived diesel, which we could summarize in these points:

•  It reduces carbon monoxide (CO) emissions by approximately 50%
•  It does not contain aromatic hydrocarbons
•  Does not emit sulfur dioxide (SO2)
•  Reduces emissions of fine particles
•  It produces more emissions of nitrogen oxides (NOx) with current engines
•  It uses the arable lands which are then removed from agriculture for food
•  It creates food insecurity especially in the poorest countries
•  If the crops are monoculture, there is a problem of reducing biodiversity
•  According to FAO indications, the availability of 0.11 hectares per capita of arable land is insufficient to feed the world population, raise beef cattle and also produce biofuel.

The step forward made with the creation of renewable diesel fuel lies not only in the use of materials considered waste, but also in its production process.

Renewable diesel, unlike traditional biodiesel which is produced by esterification, uses the production process called hydrogenation.

This process consists in the refining of waste fats and oils through the use of hydrogen , after removing the water, salts and other impurities present in the waste. Subsequently the product is subjected to isomerization of the chemical bonds creating a mix composed of gases and liquids.

At this point, the gases are extracted by recovering the hydrogen, which will be reused in the subsequent process, while the liquid parts are distilled to create renewable diesel.

Let’s see the advantages of this product compared to biodiesel :

•  It has better combustion quality which would lead to better engine performance
•  It has no mixing limits like biodiesel, so full use in modern engines can be expected
•  It uses waste materials that otherwise would be lost in the environment, returning to the circularity of the waste
•  It can be used in various production units to recover waste oils and fats

See more info about circular economy