All Diesel Vehicles Running on B50 blend

Driving around yesterday I couldn’t help but think, “I wonder how many of these diesel engine vehicles are running on either B50 (50% regular Diesel and 50% Bio-diesel) or B100 (100% Bio-diesel)

I pretty think I knew the answer because I could not think of a time whereby the large illuminated signs at the front of petrol stations ever displayed B50 or B100.

So later, when I got home, I started looking into B50.   Would it be unrealistic to expect that all diesel engine vehicles in Australia should be running on at least B50?

Then of course, common sense kicked in a bit unfortunately.   How much bio diesel do we actually make now and how much extra would we need to make?

What would be required to have your 2023 model Toyota Hilux and every other vehicle driving around running on B50?

In order to work all of this stuff out, I would need to do a bit of online research.   I’d need to find some figures on Australia’s current and anticipated diesel consumption, production and consumption of bio-diesel.   As well as the quantity of bio-diesel needed to create a B50 blend.  

The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) reported that in 2019–20, Australia’s total diesel consumption for road transportation was just a tad under 20,000 mega litres (ML).   It went on to say that the total diesel consumption for all purposes was just under 30,000 ML.

The estimated diesel consumption in 2024 for road transport would be just over 21,000 ML.   Also that the estimated diesel consumption in 2024 for all purposes would be just over 31,000 ML.   These numbers were assuming a constant growth rate of around 1.5% per year.

I found some info from the USDA Foreign Agricultural Service and it reported that Australia produced 40ML bio-diesel in 2019.

According to what I’ve been I could learn online, bio-diesel production peaked in 2014.   Remarkably, it has been continuously falling since 2017.

In 2024, 40 ML of bio-diesel should be produced assuming no discernible change in production capacity.  

According to some info I found from Statista, Australia used 15 ML of bio-diesel overall in 2020.   At the time, it was expected that amount would not change in 2022. Therefore, it is projected that 15 ML of bio-diesel will be consumed in 2024 assuming no discernible change in the consumption pattern.

We need 50% diesel and 50% bio-diesel by volume to create a B50 blend. Consequently, 10,606 ML of bio-diesel would be needed to create a B50 blend for road transportation in 2024.  Also, 15,763 ML would be needed to create a B50 blend for all purposes.

By comparing these figures, we can observe that Australia’s current and projected production and consumption of bio-diesel are far less than what is needed to create a B50 blend for all vehicles powered by diesel engines.

In order to switch to a B50 blend of bio-diesel for all diesel-powered vehicles on Australian roads by 2024, 10,591 ML of additional bio-diesel must be produced for road transport and 15,748 ML for all other purposes.

Accordingly, in order to reach a B50 blend for all diesel-powered vehicles by 2024, Australia would need to increase its production of bio-diesel by more than 26 times for road transport and more than 39 times for all purposes.    

So that’s just scary isn’t it, this goal of getting all of our vehicles running around on B50 would necessitate an absolutely monstrous investment in infrastructure, technology, and feedstock for bio-diesel in addition to a supportive legislative and regulatory environment.

To sum up, switching to a B50 blend bio-diesel for all diesel-powered vehicles in Australia would necessitate an astronomically significant increase in the production of bio-diesel, something that is unlikely to occur anytime soon.

Still, the idea has some merit and we should be doing more in this space in my opinion.   B50 Bio-diesel has some advantages for the economy and environment, including lowering greenhouse gas emissions, improving energy security, and generating jobs in rural areas. Therefore, if the right policies and incentives are in place, bio-diesel may be able to help Australia transition to a low-carbon economy.