Amyris, Inc. has announced that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has furthered its official registration of Amyris’s renewable diesel fuel, raising the registered blend level with ultra-low sulfur diesel from 20% to 35%. According to the company, “this blend level is the highest awarded to date by the EPA for commercial sale of a motor vehicle renewable gasoline or diesel fuel.”
“Obtaining the highest EPA awarded blend level registration validates the high performance properties of our renewable hydrocarbon diesel [called No Compromise Renewable Diesel],” said John Melo, CEO of Amyris. “We are producing a true No Compromise fuel – a renewable diesel that eliminates the critical challenges plaguing biofuels while still enabling dramatic reductions in greenhouse gas and tail pipe emissions for vehicles, from passenger cars through heavy-duty trucks.”
The company’s renewable diesel fuel, is made from “Biofene” and is intended to be a drop-in replacement for petroleum diesel. According to the company, “It works well even at extremely low temperatures, does not clog filters, and can be stored for a long period of time without degradation.”
Amyris is not a well-known name to U.S. truck fleets, but that could change. The company notes that independent lab tests have shown that Amyris renewable diesel performs as well as or better than both petroleum diesel and biodiesel on critical ASTM International certification metrics.
They also note that, because their renewable diesel fuel is hydrocarbon-based and compatible with existing engines, it will not require engine or infrastructure modifications. However, unlike petroleum, Amyris renewable diesel offers a superior environmental profile: at least 90% reduction of greenhouse gas emissions relative to petroleum (based on CARB metrics), no sulfur, lower oxides of nitrogen (NOx) emissions, lower particulate matter (PM) emissions, lower carbon monoxide and hydrocarbon exhaust emissions.
