With all the different alternative fuel options available, it can be hard to know what the differences are. You always want the right fuel for your equipment, and renewable fuel certainly has its benefits. But what separates renewable fuel from traditional diesel fuel? Let the experts at SeQuential help you understand this sustainable alternative. Here, we explore where it comes from, what it’s used for, and why it’s a smart choice for retailers, distributors, and other business managers on the West Coast as well as across the country.
A Breakdown of Renewable Fuel
Renewable fuel is a non-toxic diesel alternative. It’s clean burning and processed from recycled cooking oil, vegetable oil, or feedstocks, such as animal fats. It meets biomass-based diesel and overall advanced biofuel requirements of the Renewable Fuel Standard. Companies like SeQuential work with restaurants, stadiums, cafeterias, and food processors to collect used cooking oil and then use a process called transesterification to help separate the glycerin from the fat or vegetable oil. This process turns the cooking oil into a low-carbon renewable fuel.
Renewable fuel is fully compatible solution for all diesel engines, meeting all ASTM D975 specs. It is the first renewable diesel certified as TOP TIERTM for meeting a higher standard of performance.
Uses for Renewable Fuel
Renewable fuel, like its diesel counterpart, is used to power compression-ignition engines. While typically thought of as an essential for diesel cars and trucks, this domestically produced and commercially available alternative fuel has a wide range of uses. Renewable fuel can be used to power a variety of equipment, which makes it great for farm and ranch settings. In most cases, it can even be used in existing diesel engines without the need for modification.
In addition to its uses in vehicles, renewable fuel can also be used for generating energy. When used in generators, renewable fuel provides clean-burning energy for settings that require low emissions, including schools and hospitals. Renewable fuel, when used in oil furnaces, can also help provide heat.
Energy Security
When using this diesel alternative fuel in your vehicles, you can help create a positive energy balance. Renewable fuel, alongside advanced technologies, helps reduce overall fuel consumption. This, in turn, lowers transportation costs over traditional petroleum diesel since renewable fuel yields more units of energy for each unit of fossil energy consumed over its life cycle.
Environmental Impact
When viewing life cycle emissions for renewable fuel, the result is clear: Renewable fuel offers a carbon footprint up to 85% lower than petroleum diesel. This is because the carbon dioxide absorbed by growing soybeans and other feedstocks helps offset any carbon dioxide released during combustion. Renewable fuel in its pure, unblended form is also a smart choice when it comes to safety as it is less combustible and has a far higher flashpoint than traditional diesel fuel. This means that it is less dangerous if spilled.
Engine Advantages
Even the lowest-level blends of renewable fuel can help keep your engines running at peak performance. The fuel offers high lubricity, helping engine parts move smoothly. Using renewable fuel in your engine also helps raise the cetane number of the fuel.
Experience the SeQuential Difference
At SeQuential, we work with businesses on the West Coast and around the country to collect used cooking oil, refine it, and sell it to local companies. By selling locally, SeQuential helps reduce emissions, which helps keep the community air pure. We sell to fleet managers who are attempting to reduce their emissions, distributors who want to offer renewable fuel to customers, and retailers who are looking for low-carbon options. Since 2006, we have been recycling used cooking oil and using it to fuel commercial, industrial, and passenger vehicles. Sign up for our used cooking collection to become part of our mission to fuel the world with renewable fuel, contact us or call 1 (800) 447-3794 today.