Renewable diesel is a diesel fuel made from fats and oils that comes out chemically the same as ordinary diesel, so it can replace diesel completely.
It is made from feedstocks like vegetable oils, used cooking oil, and animal fats, but it is processed in a way that turns it into a fuel that matches the chemistry of regular diesel. The finished product behaves like diesel because, at the molecular level, it essentially is diesel.
That sameness is the key difference from biodiesel. Biodiesel is also made from fats and oils, but it is a different kind of molecule, so it can only be mixed into regular diesel in limited amounts, often shown as B5 or B20 for the percentage blended in. Renewable diesel has no such limit and can run on its own.
For a jobber, renewable diesel drops into the same tanks, trucks, and engines as regular diesel with no special handling, and it tends to perform well in cold weather. Where it is available, it lets a fuel business meet clean-fuel demand and rules without changing how the fuel is stored or delivered.
In useThe jobber filled a customer’s diesel tank with renewable diesel and the trucks ran on it with no change, because it meets the same spec as regular diesel.
See also Biodiesel, Dyed diesel