MOSCOW, July 25 — The liquid fuel known as diesel, designed for compression-ignition engines, remains a backbone of global heavy transport and industry, yet its history and composition are more varied than many assume. According to the historical record, the fuel’s origins trace back to Rudolf Diesel’s invention of the compression-ignition engine around 1892, when the inventor experimented with crude oil, kerosene, petrol, and coal tar creosote. By the 1900 Paris Exposition, a Diesel engine ran on peanut oil without any modifications, demonstrating early versatility.
In 1898, shale oil was already being used for early production Diesel engines in Scotland and France, marking one of the first non-petroleum feedstocks. Today, the most common form of diesel is a petroleum fractional distillate, sometimes called petrodiesel, but alternatives such as biodiesel, biomass-to-liquid (BTL), and gas-to-liquid (GTL) are under development.
Diesel exhaust, particularly from older engines, has been documented to cause health damage. This concern has driven regulatory changes in many regions. By 2016, ultra-low-sulfur diesel (ULSD) became the norm in the United Kingdom, mainland Europe, and North America.
In the European Union, diesel fuel is standardized under EN 590. Before such standardization, diesel engines often ran on cheap fuel oils, a practice still common in watercraft.
A Century of Exploration
Diesel fuel is not a single monolithic product. Colloquial names reflect regional variations: in the UK it is simply called diesel, with ‘DERV’ used for road-use white diesel, and ‘red diesel’ reserved for agricultural use. In Australia it is known as ‘distillate’, and in Indonesia and the Middle East it carries the trademark ‘Solar’.
These labels matter for trade and regulation, as red diesel, for instance, is taxed differently than road diesel. The fuel’s role extends beyond diesel engines proper.
It is also used in heavy trucks and in non-diesel engines such as the Akroyd engine or the Stirling engine. This broad applicability underscores its importance across sectors — from farming and construction to shipping and backup power generation.
Standardization and Alternative Fuels
Alternatives to petroleum-derived diesel are being developed to address both health and energy-security concerns. Biodiesel, biomass-to-liquid, and gas-to-liquid fuels each offer different feedstocks and production pathways. The 1900 Paris Exposition demonstration with peanut oil showed that diesel engines can run on plant-based fuels without modification.
Looking ahead, the key question is how quickly the global fleet shifts from conventional petrodiesel to these alternatives, and whether standardization bodies will adopt new specifications similar to EN 590. The health damage from older engines continues to be a driver, as does the desire for cleaner air in urban centres.
For now, diesel fuel — whether called DERV, distillate, or Solar — remains a workhorse of the world economy, but its future will likely involve a growing share of non-petroleum sources.
