Renewable fuel policies like the national Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) and California’s Low Carbon Fuel Standard (LCFS) have created a boom in the consumption of alternative diesels. These alternative diesels come in the form of biodiesel or renewable diesel, or biomass-based diesels (BBDs) as a group. National consumption of BBDs more than doubled from 2015 to 2023, and 70% of the diesel consumed in California comes from biofuels. BBDs hold the promise of emitting less greenhouse gas emissions than petroleum diesels without requiring major changes in heavy-duty engine technology like switching to battery technologies. Thus, BBDs could serve as a bridge technology away from petroleum fuels as battery and fuel-cell technology in the heavy-duty sector is not ready for mass adoption, and many industry leaders in agricultural states view the heavy-duty market as a growing source of demand for biofuels for decades to come.
