Renewable Diesel Expert

What does the renewable diesel expert do? Renewable diesel is a premium-quality diesel produced from renewable and sustainable feedstocks such as waste animal fats, waste vegetable oils, and greases. It allows a significant reduction in the carbon footprint compared to petroleum diesel without sacrificing diesel engine performance.  It has the same chemical composition as petroleum diesel making it easier to blend and use as a drop-in fuel for diesel-powered vehicles without any infrastructure modifications. Refiners can produce renewable diesel using standalone or coprocessing options to generate LCFS credits. Implementation of renewable diesel will require expertise in hydrotreating, life cycle, and bio feedstock availability and analysis.

Biodiesel is another type of renewable fuel produced from fats, oils, and greases (FOGs) for use in diesel vehicles. While the feedstocks of renewable diesel and biodiesel are the same, the manufacturing process, chemical composition, and engine performance are different.  Biodiesel production requires a reaction of fatty acids derived from the FOGs with alcohols such as methanol to make methyl esters.  And there are limits to the amount of biodiesel that can be blended into conventional diesel.  Renewable diesel uses hydrogen for hydrotreating to remove oxygen and double bonds to make saturated hydrocarbons indistinguishable from those in petroleum diesel. Petroleum companies are more interested in renewable diesel due to its ability to blend with (or replace) traditional diesel. Renewable diesel provides many advantages over biodiesel, such as higher cetane number, no odor, and lower greenhouse gas emissions. Moreover, renewable diesel contains no impurities, enabling vehicles to adapt better to cold weather and run cleaner at higher efficiency and lower maintenance costs.

A renewable diesel expert or consultant is someone who has a significant background in this area, through education and/or experience.  An expert in renewable diesel has a wide range of expertise in the technologies and businesses concerning the production of renewable diesel included the various technologies used to generate renewable diesel and their relative strengths and weaknesses.

The renewable diesel expert may assist investors in selecting the right technology and in preparing due diligence/feasibility studies and loan/grant applications.  They follow the renewable diesel market and have experience with the current state of supply, demand, and pricing.  They know many of the key players in the industry.  During design, the renewable diesel expert may perform a peer review of the design, prepare cost opinions and assist with permit applications.  During construction, the renewable diesel expert can assist with construction oversight of the renewable diesel facility and provide commissioning reports.   They may also provide operator training, start-up assistance, and recipe management to assist renewable diesel plant owners in making the plant run as smoothly and efficiently as possible. They are familiar with the specifications and requirements to sell the fuel. In matters involving renewable diesel litigation, the consultant may serve as an expert witness and assist the attorneys with understanding the processes and related technical issues and may testify in court about aspects of renewable diesel technology and related matters.

Large renewable energy and biochemical consulting firms should have experts in renewable diesel as well as other expertise in biofuels/renewable fuels, biomaterials, biomass and biomass power, feedstocks, biotechnologies, and a variety of specialty services like providing expert witness services.  This will encompass expertise in biofuels like algae biofuels, aviation/bio-jet fuels, ethanol, cellulosic ethanol, advanced biofuels, biodiesel, renewable diesel, renewable natural gas, renewable and biochemicals, biogas, syngas, biochar, bio coal, biobutanol, pyrolysis oil, producer gas, and wood pellets.  This will also include expertise in feedstock analysis and in feedstocks like agricultural waste, algae, biogas, co2, construction waste, cooking oils, energy crops, fermentation waste, forest products, glycerin, hemp, lignin, municipal solid waste (MSW), palm waste, railroad ties, sludge, solid recovered fuels, and wood waste.

Lee Enterprises Consulting is the world’s premier bioeconomy consulting group, with over 150 highly qualified experts serving in all these areas.  Take a look at our experts and the services we provide and you will see that we have just the right expert for any ethanol or clean energy project.  Most of our experts are also available to advise and serve as expert witnesses in bioeconomy litigation matters.  For the larger projects, we specialize in putting together full-service, interdisciplinary teams with one point of contact.  Call us at 1+ (501) 833-8511 or email us for more information.