OEM support for B20 reaches all-time high
September 10, 2012
BY NBB
2012 is proving to be another big year for biodiesel in a number of ways, but possibly one of the most exciting areas of growth has been the number of original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) supporting the use of B20 in their vehicles and equipment. So far in 2012, 10 more OEM brands have been added to the list of manufacturers supporting B20 or higher blends in at least some of their equipment. With these new additions, now more than 77 percent of the overall U.S. diesel vehicle market supports B20, a 17 percent increase over last year.
Great progress was made with the medium-/heavy-duty truck and bus manufacturers this year, as seven of the new B20 supporters come from that category: Volvo Trucks, Mack Trucks, and the Daimler Trucks North America family of brands including Freightliner, Freightliner Custom Chassis, Detroit Diesel, Western Star, and Thomas Built Buses. With these new announcements, now more than 95 percent of the medium- and heavy-duty truck markets support B20. The other three new B20-plus supporters are in the off-road equipment category and include Buhler, Kubota and Deutz, a German OEM that announced its support for the use of B100 in its Tier IIIb Agripower equipment.
The National Biodiesel Board’s OEM Outreach and Education Program has been working with these and all major manufacturers for several years, educating them on the latest biodiesel industry advancements and addressing their technical concerns as necessary to help foster their support for B20. These ongoing educational efforts, along with growing biodiesel availability, robust fuel quality specifications and practices under the industry’s BQ-9000 program, and the OEMs’ own successful B20 research efforts have all led to this remarkable growth in market acceptance for B20 biodiesel blends.
Advertisement
It should also be noted that all major OEMs selling diesel equipment in the U.S. support at least B5 and lower blends, provided they are made with biodiesel meeting ASTM D6751specifications. Most OEMs are also recommending use of a BQ-9000 supplier.
For a complete detailed listing of OEM position statements on biodiesel, as well as the current U.S. diesel vehicles list, visit: www.biodiesel.org/using-biodiesel/oem-information.
Advertisement
Upcoming Events
