All Your Questions Answered About Red Diesel

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If you ever wondered what could be heating your home or what could be powering the tractors that you pass by on a road trip across the country, chances are you would not know red diesel is the culprit behind all these scenarios.

Ultra-low-sulfur diesel makes up the second-largest portion of a refined product barrel, according to Breakthrough, equating to about 11 gallons of the finished product.

Red diesel is the fuel that is mainly used for machinery and off-road vehicles used in all kinds of industries including agriculture and construction. It can also be used to warm homes. It is chemically just like regular diesel, except for its red dye. If you want to know more about the uses of red diesel and what it is, here are all your questions answered.

Why Is It Red?
Red diesel is red because it has to be easy to identify. In some places using red diesel is illegal unless used in off-road vehicles that are not on public roads. Red diesel is also subject to specific fees and taxes. Red diesel is also typically sold a lower price point than that of regular diesel. As a way to deter people not qualified to receive those tax and fee exemptions to use red diesel fuel, it is required that it is dyed red so law officials can easily identify when someone is using the fuel in their automobiles.

What Is Its Purpose?
Since red diesel is not chemically any different than regular diesel, it is best to use it on farms and construction sites to power equipment like cranes, combines, bulldozers, harvesters and generators. It is also used for things like carnivals and state fairs to power generators, private watercraft, freight trains, back-up generators and other small scale machinery.

Red diesel can also be used to heat up things. It can be kept in a storage tank for residential properties. The diesel in the storage tank can be used for furnaces and stoves. If used for heating up the home, it is recommended that you do not keep diesel fuel for longer than six months at a time. It degrades in quality and in turn, becomes very unsafe. For the most part, using diesel to heat your home is a safe option as it has a lower chance of it exploding, will not get hot enough to catch on fire, and will not burn in a liquid state.

Can I Buy Red Diesel?
Yes, absolutely. You do not need a special license to buy red diesel drums. Do some research on your location and figure out if there are requirements that must be met in order to purchase. It is usually bought by construction companies and farmers, but everyday people can buy them too. In some cases in the United Kingdom, all that is needed is a signed RDCO form. The company selling you the red diesel may also have to be registered with HRMC.