Potential Use of Renewable Diesel for Transportation in Texas and its Environmental Impacts under Uncertainties Caused by COVID-19

Compared to biodiesel, renewable diesel is a relatively new biofuel that can also be used for diesel vehicles. Some advantages of renewable diesel over biodiesel are no special requirements for the vehicle, cold startup, and fuel storage. There is no renewable diesel plant in Texas, and no action is being considered on renewable diesel application for Texas’ transportation. The proposed project would address this critical gap and develop environmental life cycle and cost assessments to produce renewable diesel in Texas and its local applications in transportation. A novel and key component of this work would be the development of a decision-making tool that would help determine where the renewable diesel processing plant should be built. Life cycle emissions of renewable diesel used for short-haul and long-haul trucking in Texas will be evaluated with the GREET model, a life cycle assessment (LCA) tool. Life cycle cost analysis (LCCA) of renewable diesel production in Texas will also be carried out with the consideration for some uncertainties of seasonal bioresource availability, transportation, and fuel production. The decision-making tool developed in this study would help the biofuel industry to make the decision on the development of renewable diesel in Texas. Faculty working on this research will integrate LCA as an important focus area for all senior and graduate-level civil and environmental engineering courses. These students will also be introduced to the techniques of well-to-wheel analysis and production cost evaluation for renewable fuels.

• Record URL:
  https://transet.lsu.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/16/2021/08/21HSPVAMU1.pdf
• Supplemental Notes:
  • 21HSPVAMU1

Language

• English

Project

• Status: Active
• Funding: $60000
• Contract Numbers:

  69A3551747106

• Sponsor Organizations:

  Office of the Assistant Secretary for Research and Technology

  University Transportation Centers Program
  Department of Transportation
  Washington, DC  United States  20590
• Managing Organizations:

  Transportation Consortium of South-Central States (Tran-SET)

  Louisiana State University
  Baton Rouge, LA  United States  70803
• Project Managers:

  Mousa, Momen

• Performing Organizations:

  Prairie View A&M University

  Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering
  P.O. Box 519
  Prairie View, TX  United States  77446
• Principal Investigators:

  Kommalapati, Raghava

• Start Date: 20210801
• Expected Completion Date: 20230201
• Actual Completion Date: 0
• USDOT Program: University Transportation Centers Program

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Diesel fuels; Environmental impacts; Greenhouse gases; Life cycle analysis; Life cycle costing; Renewable energy sources
• Geographic Terms: Texas
• Subject Areas: Energy; Environment; Transportation (General);

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01833027
• Record Type: Research project
• Source Agency: Transportation Consortium of South-Central States (Tran-SET)
• Contract Numbers: 69A3551747106
• Files: UTC, RIP
• Created Date: Jan 20 2022 1:45PM