What is diesel fuel?
Diesel fuel is the common term for distillate fuel oil, which is sold for motor vehicles that have a compression ignition engine. The inventor of the diesel engine, German engineer Rudolf Diesel, patented his original design in 1892.
You can find diesel engines in many types of vehicles, including:
- Freight and delivery trucks
- Trains
- Buses
- Boats
- Farm, construction, and military vehicles
- Cars and light trucks
Diesel fuel is also used in diesel-engine generators to generate electricity, for example, in remote villages in Alaska. Diesel generators often serve as backup and emergency power in:
- Industrial facilities
- Large buildings
- Institutional facilities
- Hospitals
- Electric utilities
What is diesel fuel made from?
Diesel fuel is refined from crude oil and from biomass materials. Most of the diesel fuel produced and consumed in the United States is refined from crude oil at petroleum refineries. U.S petroleum refineries produce an average of 11 gallons to 12 gallons of diesel fuel from each 42-gallon (U.S.) barrel of crude oil. The United States also produces and consumes biomass-based diesel fuels.
Before 2006, most diesel fuel sold in the United States contained high quantities of sulfur. The sulfur in diesel fuel produces air pollution emissions that are harmful to human health. In 2006, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency issued requirements to reduce the sulfur content of diesel fuel sold for use in the United States. The requirements were phased in over time, beginning with diesel fuel sold for vehicles used on roadways and eventually including all non-road diesel fuel. Diesel fuel now sold in the United States for on-highway use is ultra-low sulfur diesel (ULSD), which has a sulfur content of 15 parts per million or less. Most diesel fuel sold for off-highway (or non-road) use is also ULSD.
Freight truck with diesel engine
Source: Stock photography (copyrighted)