A long term test in Europe released some results recently. A series of Mercedes-Benz trucks, buses, and heavy-duty vehicles ran a sustainable diesel produced from palm oil for a year. They had reduced emissions, not just from the tailpipe, but calculated back through the lifecycle of the fuel.
That is a nice step forward, and it’s good to see someone announcing results from a pilot, and not just from research that they hope to deploy. Too often it seems that companies announce a new product without having done long term testing of it.
I don’t know if this is a better idea than other fuels, and where else palm oil is used. One concern is that we take resources from other areas that need them, like removing corn from the food system for ethanol, but a renewable diesel would be nice.
It would be good to also know what the impact on the engines was in using this. I know the vegetable oil is supposed to work fine in diesel engines with minor modification for keeping the oil warm, but does it gum up? Cause more maintenance or reduce engine life? These types of things should be investigated, and it this works, the pilot expanded to other areas/climates.
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