ULSD

One area of which all consumers should be “in the know” is Ultra-low sulfur diesel or ULSD for short. This diesel category is applied to fuel “containing substantially lowered sulfur contents”. The lower sulfur content translates to cleaner emissions and the development of technologies to further curb dangerous vehicle emissions. The cleaner burning fuel coupled with the sophisticated emissions devices on diesel engines manufactured from 2007 and later will result in a drastic reduction of 90% of pollutants, and specifically, soot and oxides of nitrogen. ULSD works!

However, even legislation as of 2006 requiring all petroleum-based diesel fuel in both North America and Europe to be a derivative of ULSD cannot solve ULSD's immediate prime limitation.

The current limitation to ULSD is ability of its lubricity and fluidity to handle cold weather conditions. And while the focus has been on adding synthetic additives to maintain the fuel lubricity researchers have found biodiesel to be a viable, practical, and even superior alternative.

Biodiesel fuel's vegetable oil base contains little or no sulfur and has a very high lubricity factor making it an ideal candidate for blending with ULSD to maintain lubricity and keeping the sulfur ratio at a minimum.

The advantages and benefits of ULSD and ULSD-blends are clear. The technology and logistical planning necessary to best utilize and capitalize upon ULSD is developing and gaining momentum. Creating the synthetic blends that perform well under normal and extreme conditions is becoming a greater priority for manufacturers, consumers, and government. My priority remains: "good for cars and good for earth".