Study of HDRD as a Renewable Fuel Option in North America

The report is available here: Study of Hydrogenation Derived Renewable Diesel as a Renewable Fuel Option in North America - PDF

On June 29, 2011, the government of Canada registered regulations amending the Renewable Fuels Regulations which were then published on July 20, 2011.  These amendments stated that the coming into force date of the 2% requirement of renewable content in diesel and heating oil would be July 1^st, 2011.  Under the Renewable Fuels Regulations, both ester-based biodiesel and hydrogenation-derived renewable diesel (HDRD) are admissible as renewable content that can be used to meet the requirements of the Regulations. 

Although biodiesel has been and continues to be largely the fuel of choice to meet mandates for renewable alternatives to diesel, there has been increasing interest by the regulated parties globally with regards to the use of HDRD in order to meet the requirements.  Currently, HDRD is only produced in Europe, Southeast Asia and the United States. 

The purpose of this study is to evaluate the potential for HDRD production and use in Canada.  More specifically, the objectives of this study are to: provide an overview of the history of HDRD development and current and proposed production plant capacity; describe the HDRD production process, its capital and operating costs, GHG emission impacts and the feedstocks used; describe HDRD fuel properties and the various international standards that they are subject to; discuss the compatibility of HDRD with existing petroleum fuels infrastructure and vehicles; assess the potential market penetration of HDRD in North America (especially Canada) and other market factors such as existing and proposed supply and demand for HDRD, renewable fuels regulations and incentives and fuel prices; describe future developments for other next-generation renewable alternatives to diesel.