Episode 060 - Matt Leucke - Renewable Diesel

In this episode, Erik Bjornstad interviews Matt Leucke from Neste about renewable diesel. They discuss the properties, production process, and potential benefits of renewable diesel compared to conventional diesel and biodiesel.

Matt explains that renewable diesel is a drop-in replacement for fossil diesel, with superior performance in areas like cetane rating, cold flow properties, and emissions. They also explore the market outlook, policy considerations, and future developments in renewable fuels.

Listen to the Full Episode:

What You'll Learn:

• The chemical differences between renewable diesel and biodiesel
• How renewable diesel performs in terms of cetane, cold flow, stability, and lubricity
• The production process and feedstocks used for renewable diesel
• Environmental benefits and emissions reductions from using renewable diesel
• Challenges and opportunities for widespread adoption of renewable diesel
• Future developments in renewable fuel technology

Ideas Worth Sharing:

Here are three notable quotes from the podcast episode:

• Matt Leucke: "Renewable diesel with the right additives and chemistry, it's not going to be the issue. It's not going to be the cause of any problems for customers. And in fact, you probably get some better protection because of that extra dosing."
• Matt Leucke: "We can reduce that life cycle carbon emissions by up to 75% compared to like at the fossil diesel baseline."
• Erik Bjornstad: "Petro, petroleum fuel usage is not going to just magically go away after 2030. There's going to have to be phased in solutions to get us to the place where everybody wants to be are going to have to be phased in."

Resources:

• Neste website
• California Low Carbon Fuel Standard
• Federal Renewable Fuel Standard
• ASTM D975 diesel fuel specification
• Blender Tax Credit (BTC)
• Clean Fuel Production Credit (45Z program)
• Erik Bjornstad: LinkedIn

Show Notes:

[00:00:00] Introduction and guest background
[00:04:00] Explanation of renewable diesel vs biodiesel
[00:11:00] Properties of renewable diesel (cetane, cold flow, stability)
[00:22:00] Lubricity and additives in renewable diesel
[00:26:00] Production process and feedstocks
[00:31:00] Policy and legislation discussion
[00:35:00] Emissions and environmental benefits
[00:39:00] Market outlook for renewable diesel
[00:44:00] Future of renewable fuels and closing thoughts