Biomass-based diesel is the umbrella term for diesel fuels made from fats, oils, and plant matter. It covers both biodiesel and renewable diesel, the two main renewable diesels.
Diesel can be made from renewable raw materials rather than crude oil, using feedstocks such as soybean oil, used cooking grease, and animal fat. Biomass-based diesel is the broad name for any diesel made this way. Biomass simply means matter that was recently living.
It covers two products that differ in how they are made. Biodiesel is treated oils and fats that get blended into regular diesel in modest amounts, shown as B5 or B20. Renewable diesel is processed further until it is chemically the same as ordinary diesel, so it can replace diesel fully with no blend limit.
The reason for the umbrella term is rules and credits. Federal renewable fuel programs treat biomass-based diesel as one category and reward it together, so the trade groups the two products under the single name when counting volumes and credits.
For a fuel marketer, the practical point is that both members are grown or collected rather than pumped, both carry credits worth tracking, and both let a business offer a lower-carbon diesel to customers who want one.
In useThe jobber’s renewable fuel report lumps its biodiesel and renewable diesel together as biomass-based diesel, because that is how the federal program counts the credits.
See also Biodiesel, Renewable diesel, Used cooking oil (UCO)