Comparison of CO2 emissions and potential efficiency
between biodiesel and renewable diesel fuels
Comparación de las emisiones de CO2 y la eficiencia
potencial entre el biodiesel y el diésel renovable
Comparação das emissões de CO2 e eficiência
potencial entre biodiesel e diesel renovável
Abstract
Renewable biofuels have several advantages, including in-
creasing energy efficiency, diversifying the energy matrix of
countries, and reducing greenhouse gases. Moreover, fossil
fuels are gradually depleting. Biofuels such as biodiesel and
renewable diesel, also known as green diesel or hydrotreated
vegetable oil, are becoming essential fields of study as they
can mitigate environmental damage without affecting trans-
portation quality. Both biodiesel and renewable diesel are
produced from the same biomass, which can come from vege-
table oil, animal fats, microalgal oil, or waste cooking oil. Each
fuel is created through a different process, transesterifica-
tion for biodiesel and hydrotreatment for renewable diesel.
As a result, each has distinct chemical and physical properties
that determine their performance, including efficiency and
CO2 emissions. This review examines the biomass feedstock
used, compares the transformation processes, efficiency, and
potential CO2 emissions, and identifies the advantages and
disadvantages of using biodiesel and renewable diesel.
Keywords: Biomass; Fuel; Vegetable oil.
Jeronimo Alonso-Jaramillo1, Leonardo Alexis Alonso-Gomez2*
*Autor de correspondencia: [email protected]
Recibido: 20 de diciembre de 2023 Aceptado: 17 de Febrero de 2024
La Revista Sistemas de Producción Agroecológicos es una revista de acceso abierto revisada por pares. © 2012. Este es un artículo de acceso
abierto distribuido bajo los términos de la Licencia Internacional Creative Commons Aribution 4.0 (CC-BY 4.0), que permite el uso, distribución
y reproducción sin restricciones en cualquier medio, siempre que se acredite el autor y la fuente originales.
Consulte hp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.
OPEN ACCESS
Como citar este artículo / How to cite this article: Alonso-Jaramillo J., & Alonso-Gomez L. A.,
(2024). Comparison of CO2 emissions and potential efficiency between biodiesel and renewable
diesel fuels. Revista Sistemas de Producción Agroecológicos, 15(1), e-1055. DOI: hps://doi.
org/10.22579/22484817.1055
1 SENA Agroindustrial – Avenida Centenario
carrera 6 # 44N-15 Armenia, Quindío,
Colombia.
2 Universidad de los Llanos, Grupo de
investigación Ciencia, Tecnología e
Innovación Agroindustrial (CITIA). Km 12 Vía
Puerto López. Villavicencio, Meta, Colombia.
ORCID:
hps://orcid.org/0000-0001-9745-2529
2
Comparison of CO2 emissions and potential efficiency between biodiesel and renewable diesel fuels
Vol 15 No. 1 - e-1055 enero junio 2024.
DOI: hps://doi.org/10.22579/22484817.1055
Resumen
El uso de biocombustibles renovables tiene importantes ventajas,
como el aumento de la eficiencia energética, la diversificación de la
matriz energética de los países y la reducción de los gases de efecto
invernadero, entre otras. Los combustibles fósiles, además, están co-
menzando un paulatino agotamiento. Los biocombustibles, como el
biodiésel y el diésel renovable (también llamado diésel verde o aceite
vegetal hidro tratado), se han convertido en importantes campos de
investigación, ya que pueden mitigar los perjuicios medioambientales
sin afectar a la calidad del transporte. Tanto el biodiésel como el diésel
renovable proceden de la misma biomasa, que puede variar entre aceite
vegetal, grasas animales, aceite de microalgas y aceite de cocina usado.
Cada combustible se produce mediante un proceso diferente (transes-
terificación en el caso del biodiésel e hidrotratamiento en el del diésel
renovable). Por esta razón, cada uno de ellos tiene propiedades quími-
cas y físicas diferentes que determinan su rendimiento, incluyendo su
eficiencia y las emisiones de CO2. Esta revisión analiza las materias pri-
mas de biomasa utilizadas y realiza una comparación entre los procesos
de transformación, la eficiencia y las emisiones potenciales de CO2. Por
último, establece las ventajas e inconvenientes del uso de biodiésel y
diésel renovable.
Palabras claves: Aceite vegetal; Biomasa; Combustible.
Resumo
O uso de biocombustíveis renováveis tem vantagens importantes,
como o aumento da eficiência energética, a diversificação da matriz
energética dos países e a redução dos gases de efeito estufa, entre ou-
tras. Além disso, os combustíveis fósseis estão a começar a esgotar-se
gradualmente. Os biocombustíveis, como o biodiesel e o diesel renová-
vel (também chamado de diesel verde ou óleo vegetal hidro tratado),
tornaram-se importantes campos de investigação, pois podem miti-
gar os danos ambientais sem afetar a qualidade do transporte. Tanto
o biodiesel como o gasóleo renovável provêm da mesma biomassa, que
pode variar entre óleo vegetal, gorduras animais, óleo de microalgas e
óleos alimentares usados. Cada combustível é produzido através de um
processo diferente (transesterificação no caso do biodiesel e hidrotra-
tamento no caso do gasóleo renovável). Por esta razão, cada um deles
tem propriedades químicas e físicas diferentes que determinam o seu
desempenho, incluindo a sua eficiência e emissões de CO2. Esta revisão
analisa as matérias-primas de biomassa utilizadas e faz uma compara-
ção entre os processos de transformação, a eficiência e as potenciais
emissões de CO2. Por fim, estabelece as vantagens e desvantagens da
utilização do biodiesel e do gasóleo renovável.
Palavras-chave: Biomassa; Combustível; Óleo vegetal.
3
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Introduction
In recent years, many countries around the world
have made commitments to decrease air pollution
and combat climate change. Two major interna-
tional agreements that address this issue are the
Kyoto Protocol and the Paris Agreement. The Paris
Agreement, adopted in 2015, is a legally binding
international treaty on climate change. It aims to
keep global warming below 2°C above pre-indus-
trial levels (United-Nations, 2022).
Petroleum diesel has been widely used in the
transport sector since the creation of compres-
sion ignition engines (or diesel engines). From the
energy conservation and global warming view-
point, petroleum diesel is recommended rather
than gasoline (Uchino, 2022)which requires (a be-
cause it has a beer thermodynamic yield in the
engine and produces lower emissions of CO2 for
each kilometer driven. However, the combustion
of petroleum diesel still produces an extensive
emission of CO2 compared to biofuels. Fuels most
used in the 20th century like coal, gas, and oil have
lost a huge part of people’s approbation due to the
consequences they produce on the environment.
Besides, the reserves of these fuels are suffering
a gradual depletion making new energy sources an
alternative to ensure a beer future.
These days, many investigations are looking for-
ward to discovering more and more about new en-
ergy sources. That is why renewable biofuels such
as bio-hydrogen, biogas, bio-methane, bioethanol,
green gasoline, biodiesel, and renewable diesel are
becoming classic features. Biofuels come from re-
newable sources; thus, they can mitigate the emis-
sions of CO2 in the environment. This lower CO2
emission is given because there is less of it as a
sub-product in the combustion of biofuels than in
the combustion of fossil fuels (Energy, 2019). Be-
sides, the CO2 liberated in the combustion of bio-
fuels is part of the natural cycle because it comes
from biomass, and therefore is assimilable by the
plant through photosynthesis, unlike the combus-
tion of fossil fuels, which produces CO2 from a
subterranean source adding to the current natu-
ral carbon cycle (Alonso-Gomez and Bello-Pérez,
2018).
Oil is the feedstock from which fuels like biodiesel
and renewable diesel are produced, it is made up
of molecules called triglycerides which are trans-
formed into biodiesel through transesterification
and into renewable diesel through a Hydro treat-
ment. Both processes have as their principal aim
to reduce the oil viscosity because it can cause
damage to the engine. Triglycerides can be found
in feedstocks such as vegetable oils, animal fats,
micro-algal oils, and used cooking oils.
To understand the difference between petroleum
diesel and biodiesel, let’s look at Figure 1, petro-
leum diesel is a hydrocarbon-based substance
that contains 8 to 21 carbon atoms per molecule
(Douvartzides et al., 2019). It is obtained as a
sub-product of fractional distillation of petro-
leum. In contrast, Costa et al. (2021), mention that
vegetable oil contains 10 to 12 percent by weight
oxygen (Figure 1), whereas fossil fuels usually con-
tain insignificant amounts of it.
In figure 1, where petroleum diesel molecule is
compared with a biodiesel molecule. It can be ev-
idenced that the difference in the chemical aspect
is that petroleum diesel is a hydrocarbon and bio-
diesel is an ester.
Figure 1 Comparison between petrodiesel and biodiesel
molecules
petrodiesel
H
H
C
H
H
C
H
H
C
H
H
C
H
H
C
H
H
C
H
H
C
H
H
H
C
H
H
C
H
H
C
H
H
C
H
H
C
H
biodiesel
ester functional group
H
H
C
H
O
O
C
H
C
H
H
C
H
H
C
H
H
C
H
H
H
C
H
H
C
H
H
C
H
H
C
H
H
C
H
Source: Dynamicscience, 2020
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Comparison of CO2 emissions and potential efficiency between biodiesel and renewable diesel fuels
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In this paper, the difference in CO2 emission and
efficiency between biodiesel and renewable die-
sel will be highlighted based on literature data.
The first instance presents the biomass feedstock
from where the triglycerides are obtained, and the
different processes to transform them into the two
mentioned biofuels. Followed by the comparison
between the results of different studies about the
performance of biodiesel and renewable diesel. Fi-
nally, conclude which is the biofuel that has a lower
CO2 emission potential between biodiesel and re-
newable diesel according to previous investigations.
Background
The transport sector initially relied on biomass
feedstock as the primary source of fuel. One of
the famous examples is the use of corn ethanol
to power the first Oo engine vehicles manufac-
tured by Henry Ford. Similarly, biological sources
have been used to run diesel engine vehicles since
the inception of the Diesel engine by Rudolph Die-
sel in 1897. In the 1940s, the use of fossil fuels in-
creased because they were cheaper than biofuels.
Biodiesel remerged with the search for renewable
and less polluting fuels. Nowadays biodiesel is
approved in blends with petrodiesel in The Unit-
ed States, Brazil, France, China, Germany, United
Kingdom, Italy, Spain, Poland, Thailand, Indonesia,
and Colombia. Pure biodiesel was used first, but it
showed incompatibility in the engine (IATA, 2019)
again, there might be other countries which have
mandates and are not on display. The circle’s di-
ameter represents the value of the mandate tak-
ing the highest mandate as the reference. In Fig.1
the country with the most ambitious bio-ethanol
mandate is Brazil (27%. For this reason, in The Eu-
ropean Union, 7% is the maximum amount of bio-
diesel allowed for blends to avoid engine damage
(Douvartzides et al., 2019)from the classification
and chemistry of the available biomass feed-
stocks to the possible production technologies
and up to the final fuel properties and their effect
in modern compression ignition internal com-
bustion engines. Various biomass feedstocks are
reviewed paying aention to their specific impact
on the production of green diesel. Then, the most
prominent production technologies are presented
such as the hydro-processing of triglycerides, the
upgrading of sugars and starches into C 15 –C 18
saturated hydrocarbons, the upgrading of bio-oil
derived by the pyrolysis of lignocellulosic materi-
als and the “Biomass-to-Liquid” (BTL.
Renewable Diesel was first produced in Europe by
the renewable fuel company Neste in 2007. Nowa-
days, renewable diesel is the third most common
biofuel worldwide, aer bioethanol and biodiesel
(ETIP Bioenergy - European Technology and In-
novation Platform, 2020). It is commonly used in
many countries; it can be used pure or in blends
with petrodiesel due to its similarity with it.
The base investigation that motivates this review
is that made by Douvartzides et al. (2019)from
the classification and chemistry of the available
biomass feedstocks to the possible production
technologies and up to the final fuel properties
and their effect in modern compression ignition
internal combustion engines. Various biomass
feedstocks are reviewed paying aention to their
specific impact on the production of green diesel.
Then, the most prominent production technolo-
gies are presented such as the hydro-process-
ing of triglycerides, the upgrading of sugars and
starches into C 15 –C 18 saturated hydrocarbons,
the upgrading of bio-oil derived by the pyrolysis of
lignocellulosic materials and the “Biomass-to-Liq-
uid” (BTL who provide an overview of the current
technology related to renewable diesel, from the
classification and chemistry of the available bio-
mass feedstocks to the possible production tech-
nologies and up to the final fuel properties and
their effect in modern diesel engines. They con-
clude that renewable diesel is an excellent fuel for
combustion engines with remarkable properties
and significantly lower emissions. But, although
they do a very in-depth literature review, they do
not make a comparison with other similar prod-
ucts, which are their direct competition in the fuel
market. Therefore, this review seeks to compare
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Jeronimo Alonso-Jaramillo y Leonardo Alexis Alonso-Gomez
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different literature sources so that it can be un-
derstood from a relative basis if renewable Diesel
is indeed an excellent fuel as concluded by Dou-
vartzides et al.
Biomass feedstock
Triglycerides are composed of three fay acid es-
ters combined with a glycerol molecule. Biofuels,
such as biodiesel and renewable diesel, can be
produced using any organic maer that contains
a high concentration of triglycerides. This includes
vegetable oils (e.g., rapeseed, soybean, coon-
seed, palm, corn, sunflower, coconut, peanut,
camelina, and jatropha oils), animal fats, micro-al-
gal oils, and used cooking oils.(Anuar and Abdullah,
2016) Figure 2 shows that certain biomasses are
more commonly used, depending on their avail-
ability in the country.
Figure 2 Composition of feedstock usage in the USA,
for annual production of biodiesel and renewable die-
sel 2011 – 2022
100
90
80
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
02011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022
Percentage
Soybean Oil Yellow Grease Corn Oil
Tallow Canola Oil All Other
Source: Gerveni et al., 2024.
The most used feedstock in the USA to produce
biodiesel and renewable diesel is soybean, which
has a high concentration of oil and therefore is bet-
ter for its extraction compared to other feedstock.
Biofuels have been produced using different types
of biomass over the years. These types of biomass
are categorized into three generations. The first
generation primarily focused on producing bio-
fuels easily with conventional processes using
feedstock that had the highest concentration of
raw material (oil) and was more abundant. Edible
feedstock such as soybean, sunflower, canola, and
others were commonly used during the first gen-
eration of biofuel production.(Moodley, 2021). The
second generation focused on food security, using
non-edible oils like jatropha, camelina sativa, and
coon that do not compete with food production.
(Banković-Ilić et al., 2012). This generation encour-
aged the use of waste oils with higher complexity
processes.(Ahmad et al., 2023), and microalgae
oils (Mofijur et al., 2019).
Transformation
Oil is the feedstock used for the production of
many liquid biofuels; however, its high viscosity is
a problem when it is used crudely as fuel. The pro-
cesses used to transform biomass oil into biofuels
have as their principal aim to reduce its viscosity
since the high viscosity of vegetable oil can cause
damage to the engine (Figure 3).
Figure 3 Damages caused by using crude vegetable oil
in diesel engines, This is a 4-cylinder engine with 200
hours of use with 100% sunflower oil
Soruce: Maziero et al., 2007.
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Comparison of CO2 emissions and potential efficiency between biodiesel and renewable diesel fuels
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Several methods are used to achieve this ob-
jective (reduce viscosity), including mixing with
hydrocarbons, micro emulsification, pyrolysis,
transesterification, and hydro-deoxygenation
(Garraín et al., 2010).
In the production of biodiesel, the triglycerides in
the oil pass through a transesterification. Transes-
terification is the reaction in which triglycerides
are transformed into Methyl or Ethyl Esters (bio-
diesel) and glycerol as a sub-product through the
addition of methanol or ethanol to the vegetal oil
in the presence of a catalyst (Figure 4).
On the other hand, renewable diesel or hydroge-
nated vegetable oil (HVO) is produced through the
hydro processing or hydrotreating of triglyceri-
des producing saturated hydrocarbon chains with
15 to 18 atoms per molecule and propane as a sub-
product (Figure 5).
Figure 4 Chemical reaction of the production of biodiesel
O
OHC R1
OH2C H2C
O
C R3
OH2C
O
C R23RH3OH
Triglyceride Methanol Glycerol Methyl esters
base
or acid
+ +OHC
O
C R1
OH3C
O
C R2
OH3C
O
C R3
OH3C
OHH2C
OHHC
Source: Douvartzides et al., 2019
.
Figure 5 Chemical formation and composition of the renewable diesel or HVO
Feedstock
R-CH2-C
CH2-R1
2 R-CH2-CH3
CH3-CH2-CH3
R1-CH3CO2
4 H2O+
+
H2
CH2
H
C
CH2
O
O
C
R-CH2-C
Triglyceride
Hydrotreatment route
Catalyst
Decarboxylation route
HVO diesel fuel
R = CxH
y
CnH
2n+2
Reactions & Products
• straight hydrocarbon chain, R
typically C12...C20
• number of double bonds
depends on feedstock type
• fully saturated paraffinic hydrocarbon
O
O
O
O
Source: Neste Corporation, 2020.
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Renewable Diesel can be also produced from hy-
dro processing, biological upgrading of sugars,
starches, and alcohols, and thermochemical pro-
cesses (Julio et al., 2022). It can be one of its most
important advantages because it can be produ-
ced in countries where there is not enough lipid
feedstock. Indeed, the different ways that can be
used to produce renewable diesel are described
in Figure 6.
It is important to declare that the processes invol-
ved in the production of biodiesel and Renewable
Diesel are different. Renewable Diesel production
involves higher temperatures, pressure, and more
processes than biodiesel production.
Physical and chemical properties of
biodiesel and renewable diesel
Renewable diesel and biodiesel are both renewa-
ble fuels as they both come from biomass. The di-
fference between them is based on the process by
which the biomass is transformed (transesterifi-
cation in biodiesel and Hydrotreatment in renewa-
ble diesel), each of these processes makes two
different biofuels with different compositions,
properties, and performance when they are bur-
ned in the engine.
Biodiesel and renewable diesel have substantial di-
fferences in their composition, biodiesel is an ester
and renewable diesel is a hydrocarbon. Biodiesel’s
chemical composition makes it more susceptible
to microbial contamination during storage which
may result in the corrosion of storage tanks and
clogging of fuel lines (Komariah et al., 2022). The
presence of oxygen in biodiesel may produce oxi-
dation which can cause corrosion on the engine.
Biodiesel can also have a higher viscosity than
petrodiesel, and due to the presence of oxygen,
it has poor cold-weather performance (Simbi et
al., 2022)which faces challenges. With the high
Figure 6 Thermochemical routes to upgrade biomass into Renewable Diesel
- Hydrolysis
- Aqueous phase
reforming
- Hydroprocessing
- Gasification
- Fischer-
Tropsch
synthesis
- Up-grading
or refining
- Decarboxylation
- Decarbonylation
- Hydrodeoxygenation
Renewable diesel
production process
Feedstock
Cellulosic
feedstock
Biological &
catalytic conversión
Biomass to
liquid process Pyrolysis Hydroprocessing
Animal fats and
vegetable oil
Source: Quevedo-Amador et al., 2024.
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intake temperatures, low lubricity and need for a
high compression ratio for this engine, the use of
a petrol-biodiesel blend as a fuel addresses such
issues. This study evaluates the characteristics of
fuel quality and performance of blended fuels with
biodiesel additives (5%, 15%, and 25%. Despite
the disadvantages of Biodiesel, it has a lubricity
that allows a beer functioning of the engine.
Renewable diesel is a hydrocarbon, similar to Die-
sel, thus allowing its use in Diesel engines in pure
form without any engine modification or mixes.
As it does not have oxygen in its molecule it is less
corrosive and has a superior cold-weather perfor-
mance than biodiesel (Table 1). Renewable diesel
has a cetane number between 60 and 65, it is very
important to highlight this characteristic because
the cetane number means the ignition capacity in
a certain period and it is higher compared to fossil
diesel and biodiesel.
CO2 emission
In general, it can be said that, given the great va-
riety of feedstocks, and also because there are
several ways of carrying out transesterification,
there is a great variety of biodiesels. Likewise, as
different feedstocks may contain different fay
acid profiles, this is reflected in a heterogeneity of
methyl or ethyl esters. This results in a large num-
ber of possible combinations that generate a large
number of biodiesel qualities and CO2 emissions.
The high hydrogen/carbon ratio (H/C) in renewa-
ble diesel is oen aributed as the main cause of
low CO2 emissions. Dimitriadis et al. (2018) found
4% less CO2 in the exhaust emissions when using
renewable diesel. Hernández et al. (2020)namely
HVO (Hydrotreated Vegetable Oil found 2.5 g km−1
less CO2 in emissions when 30% renewable diesel
was mixed with diesel.
Table 1. Physicochemical properties of Biodiesel and Renewable diesel.
Unit Biodiesel Renewable diesel Min-max Method
Cetane number 58,6 60-65 >51 ASTM D 445
Kinematic viscosity 40°C mm2/sec 4,71 3 (2,3 - 6) ASTM D 614
Flash point °C 160 >70 >55 ASTM D 93
Cloud point °C 9 (-5 to -25) <18 ASTM D 5949
Sulfur mg/kg 3,85 <1 <50 ASTM D 4294
Water content mg/kg 588,36 7 <500 ASTM D 6304
Adapted from (Firdaus et al., 2022), (Aatola et al., 2008), and (Neste Corporation, 2020).
However, some authors dare to give answers ba-
sed on research averages, as shown in Table 2.
(Adetunji, 2017), (Your, 2023), (Morgenstern, 2022).
Comparing renewable diesel with fossil diesel,
renewable diesel produces up to 56 % less CO2.
Fossil diesel produces 3.6 tons of CO2 per 1,000
L, compared to just 195 kg per 1,000 L of renewa-
ble diesel. This translates to approximately 53.9 g
CO2 eq/ km for renewable diesel, assuming similar
energy content and efficiency as diesel (Morgens-
tern, 2022). Biodiesel, specifically B100 (100%
biodiesel), offers a significant reduction in CO2
emissions compared to regular diesel. Compa-
red to regular diesel, unblended biodiesel (B100)
offers a 75% reduction in CO2. This translates to
approximately 30g CO2eq/km (Tavel CO2, 2017).
Table 2. CO2 emission of biodiesel, diesel, and renewa-
ble diesel
Fuel CO2 emissions
(CO₂ eq/km) Reference
Biodiesel 30,0 Travel CO2, 2017
Renewable diesel 53,9 Morgestern, 2022
Diesel 120,0 Adetunji 2017
Source: Own elaboration
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Efficiency
Fuel efficiency can be analyzed from different
perspectives, for example, it can be made a com-
parison of the energy densities of biodiesel and
renewable diesel, in energy units per unit of mass.
Expressing the energy in every gallon of fuel. For
instance, it can be converted to what kind of mi-
leage would the Diesel motor get from each fuel,
and this is very important, assuming the same car
and the same driving conditions (the same avera-
ge speed).
Several authors have tried to standardize the
methodology of measurement of fuel efficiency
to obtain equivalent and comparable results. One
of these aempts at standardization is called the
New European Driving Cycle (NEDC). The NEDC
test is made up of four urban driving cycles (ca-
lled UDC) and one extra-urban driving cycle (called
EUDC) (Cárdenas et al., 2016). Both types of cycles
are composed of increasing, constant, and decre-
asing vehicle speed sequences.
The easiest way to compare the potential efficien-
cy of a biofuel is the cetane number. Which repre-
sents the quality or performance of the fuel. The
higher the number is the faster and beer it burns
in the engine. It refers to how brief is the time bet-
ween the injection of the fuel in the chamber and
the beginning of the combustion of the fuel.
Renewable diesel has a cetane number of 60 to 65
and biodiesel of 58,6 (Neste Corporation, 2020)
correspondence principle and inverse Laplace
transforms. This means that the time between the
injection of renewable diesel in the chamber and
its combustion is shorter than the time between
the injection of biodiesel in the chamber and its
combustion. Therefore, it can be said that renewa-
ble diesel has a superior efficiency than biodiesel.
Conclusion
Values of CO2 emissions and efficiency can vary
based on the specific conditions of use, such as
the type of vehicle and driving conditions. Also, it
is important to remember that while renewable
diesel options can significantly reduce CO2 emis-
sions, they are not completely carbon-neutral. The
production and distribution processes also contri-
bute to their overall carbon footprint.
Both biodiesel and renewable diesel have advan-
tages in terms of efficiency and reduced environ-
mental impact compared to fossil fuels. However,
each biofuel has its specific characteristics and
advantages.
Renewable diesel can be an excellent alternative
where oil feedstocks do not meet the demand. This
is because renewable diesel can also be obtained
from other raw materials such as carbohydrates. It
has a higher cetane number than biodiesel and pe-
troleum diesel. And due to its similarity with petro-
leum diesel, it can be used pure or blended unlike
biodiesel which should not be used pure Biodiesel
has lower CO2 emissions; however, it requires ca-
reful management as it can suffer microbial conta-
mination during storage. It can cause corrosion on
the engine and it has a poor weather performance.
The fuel with the highest cetane number between
biodiesel and renewable diesel is renewable die-
sel, with a cetane number between 60 and 65. This
means that it ignites faster than biodiesel, which
has a cetane number of 58,6 and therefore is more
efficient. Nevertheless, biodiesel has a lower
emission of CO2, it emits 30 CO₂ eq/km, unlike re-
newable diesel which produces 53,9 eq/km.
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