One of the Highest-Quality Biodiesels Is Within Reach

Biodiesel is one of the simplest, most effective fuels for reducing carbon emissions. It’s also a high-quality fuel that must meet stringent standards to ensure good operational performance.

Like nearly all products — including other types of fuel — there are differences between manufacturers. Here’s how Chevron Renewable Energy Group sets the standard for product quality in the lower carbon fuels industry.

Advanced quality control measures

After more than 25 years as an industry leader and billions of gallons produced, Chevron Renewable Energy Group knows biodiesel. ASTM International has established standards to ensure fuel quality — in biodiesel’s case ASTM D6751 — but Chevron Renewable Energy Group goes above and beyond that by participating in the BQ-9000^® program as a fuel producer and marketer. BQ-9000 combines ASTM specs with additional quality assurance steps on biodiesel production, distribution and storage. Our fuel meets or exceeds ASTM requirements so our customers can get the most benefits possible from using biodiesel.

Biodiesel's properties also exceed some key petroleum diesel specs in these ways:

Cetane rating — The ASTM specification for biodiesel requires a minimum Cetane number of 47, compared with the ASTM diesel spec of 40. Higher Cetane equals a shorter ignition time and better performance. Chevron Renewable Energy Group biodiesel is typically above 50.

Lubricity — Ultra-low-sulfur diesel, (ULSD) is almost completely lacking in lubricity. However, blends as little as a B2 provides the lubricity fleets need. This too is critical for performance. Modern diesel engines rely on fuel to aid in the lubricating process and provide protection against wear and damage. Proper lubricity management can also help engines run smoother, cooler and more quietly.

Proprietary pretreatment process

A key factor in our fuel quality is our proprietary pretreatment process, in which the feedstocks used to create biodiesel are substantially refined before actual biodiesel production begins. In addition to contributing to a high-quality finished fuel, our process allows us to use multiple feedstocks, including lower cost feedstocks that may have higher contaminants, without impacting the quality of the fuel. 

This feedstock flexibility, as we call it, benefits our customers in multiple ways:

Predictable pricing and availability — We are insulated from some of the fluctuation in commodity markets. When supply or pricing on a particular feedstock is unfavorable, we can easily switch to another feedstock while maintaining a consistent product.

Ability to combine various feedstocks — We can combine different feedstocks and capture the best properties from each, creating a finished fuel with the specifications our customers want.

Lower carbon intensity — We can use feedstocks with lower carbon intensity scores, allowing us to produce fuel that does an even better job at helping fleets reduce their carbon emissions.

Distilled biodiesel

Some of our fuel goes through the distillation process, which is a method for purifying liquids. There are a variety of customer benefits with distillation:

Superior cold weather performance — Distillation does a better job than other purification methods at removing what are known as minor components, which can contribute to filter plugging.

The potential for even lower carbon fuel — Some of the feedstocks with the most favorable carbon intensity scores can result in biodiesel with a higher cloud point, therefore creating potentially a greater concern for performance in cold temperatures. Colder weather is less of an issue with a distilled product, so our customers can get a fuel with lower carbon intensity that helps them reduce harmful emissions and reach carbon reduction targets.

Easier blending with petroleum diesel — Distillation helps make it easier to fully mix the biodiesel molecules and petroleum diesel molecules.

Additional testing and technical services

Choosing the right fuel can be a challenging process; however, if you run into fuel-related questions, we believe our Technical Services team is unmatched in the industry. They provide fuel sample testing, filter analysis and technical advice on storing, handling and blending fuel. In addition, we provide technical guidance on fuel properties for our customers for their specific operations. Fuel testing is completed at our lab in Ames, IA.

All Chevron Renewable Energy Group biorefineries have an on-site lab as well. The main focus is to ensure the quality of the incoming and outgoing materials by testing the incoming feedstocks and chemicals, in-process samples, and finished fuel and co-products.

Get high-quality biodiesel

Biodiesel has many important benefits, including reducing carbon emissions and enhancing performance through higher Cetane, added lubricity and putting less stress on diesel particulate filters. That’s why we make sure Chevron Renewable Energy Group biodiesel is put through a rigorous process to produce one of the highest-quality fuel for our customers.

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