Course 14 of 20 · Biofuels and SAF Desk Academy

Biodiesel & Renewable Diesel Economics

Stage D, Fuel margin and customer claims. Level 7 of 10.

The biodiesel and renewable diesel production margin, feedstock substitution economics, and the co-processing and capacity decisions behind it.

125 chapters · 11 modules · every chapter one 8 to 10 minute explainer · builds on: Course 02, Course 10, Course 13

Enrol or enquire See the 125 chapters
How a chapter is delivered

One chapter is one idea taken to the point of use

Each chapter covers one idea to the point where you can use it, and comes two ways: a narrated explainer, and a deep dive audio discussion of around thirty minutes that works the same material at depth.

Self-paced throughout, and the same chapters can be taught as a cohort. Chapters run in order: each one assumes only what the chapters before it taught, and capability belonging to a later course is named and deferred rather than half-covered.

Curriculum

11 modules · 125 chapters

Open any module for its full chapter list, in teaching order.

M0 The Conversion Margin a Renewable Fuels Plant Lives On Ch 1-11
  1. Why This Plant Earns a Spread Rather Than a Price
  2. The Four Revenue Lines on a Finished Tonne
  3. Where Cost Sits Between Receipt of Oil and Dispatch of Fuel
  4. Which Side of the Margin the Producer Is Exposed On
  5. Why a Cheaper Feedstock Widens the Margin
  6. Why a Richer Product Mix Widens It Too
  7. Taking the Ethanol Crush as Already Understood
  8. Two Technologies, One Margin Question
  9. When the Entitlement Leg Can Exceed the Fuel Leg
  10. Settling the Denominator Before Any Arithmetic
  11. The Order in Which the Lipid Stack Is Built
M1 Building the Methyl Ester Margin Stack Ch 12-23
  1. The Gross Spread Between Oil and Methyl Ester
  2. Converting a Feedstock Quotation Into Cost Per Tonne of Product
  3. The Methanol Line and Why It Tracks Gas
  4. Methanol Recovery and the Line It Reduces
  5. The Catalyst and Chemicals Line
  6. Crude Glycerine as a Revenue Line, Not a Waste
  7. Steam, Power and the Energy Charged to a Tonne
  8. Fixed Cost and Maintenance Per Tonne at Rated Output
  9. Freight and Terminal Cost Into the Customer's Tank
  10. The Completed Ester Stack on One Page
  11. A Worked Rapeseed Ester Margin, Part One: Assembling the Lines
  12. A Worked Rapeseed Ester Margin, Part Two: Reading the Result
M2 Building the Renewable Diesel Margin Stack Ch 24-35
  1. Why Hydrotreating Changes the Shape of the Stack
  2. The Hydrogen Line and Where It Comes From
  3. Hydrogen Consumption Rises With Feedstock Unsaturation
  4. Naphtha and Propane as Price Takers
  5. Isomerisation Severity and the Cold Flow It Buys
  6. Catalyst Life, Contaminant Load and the Replacement Charge
  7. The Energy a Hydrotreating Circuit Draws
  8. Fixed Cost on a Converted Unit Against a Purpose-Built One
  9. The Price Relationship Between Paraffinic Diesel and Methyl Ester
  10. The Completed Renewable Diesel Stack on One Page
  11. A Worked Used Cooking Oil Hydrotreating Margin, Part One: The Inputs
  12. A Worked Used Cooking Oil Hydrotreating Margin, Part Two: What Survives
M3 The Entitlement and Incentive Leg Inside the Margin Ch 36-45
  1. Where Credit Revenue Enters the Stack
  2. Who Captures the Credit, the Producer or the Blender
  3. Netting Credit Revenue Against a Product Discount
  4. Why a Higher-Intensity Feedstock Earns Fewer Credits
  5. Reading a Programme's Setting in Force Instead of Memorising One
  6. United States Production and Blending Incentives as a Margin Line
  7. How European Obligation Value Reaches a Producer
  8. When the Entitlement Is Not Bankable Yet
  9. Two Margin Figures, and Which Decision Uses Which
  10. A Worked Margin With and Without the Credit Leg
M4 Feedstock Substitution Economics Ch 46-58
  1. Substitution as a Two-Sided Calculation, Not a Cost Saving
  2. The Cost Leg: What a Switch Saves or Adds
  3. The Entitlement Leg: What the Same Switch Does to Credit Revenue
  4. Why Waste and Residue Oils Can Trade Above Crop Oils
  5. Netting the Two Effects Into One Decision
  6. The Conversion Term That Changes With the Switch
  7. The Processing Penalty a Difficult Input Carries
  8. The Eligibility Test That Precedes the Arithmetic
  9. A Worked Switch From Crop Oil to Collected Waste Oil
  10. A Worked Switch in the Opposite Direction
  11. Blending Inputs Rather Than Choosing One
  12. The Substitution Table a Desk Updates Weekly
  13. What Substitution Cannot Fix
M5 Pretreatment, Specification and the Quality Give-Up Ch 59-69
  1. Free Fatty Acid Content and What It Costs Each Technology
  2. The Pretreatment Unit as Cost and as Capability
  3. Mass Lost in Pretreatment and Where It Lands
  4. Phosphorus, Metals and the Catalyst They Consume
  5. Cold Flow Grade and the Yield It Costs an Ester Plant
  6. Why a Saturated Input Makes a Poor Winter Ester
  7. Oxidation Stability, Additive Cost and Shelf Life
  8. Meeting Two Fuel Standards From One Plant
  9. Giving Up Grade to Widen the Input Slate
  10. The Rejected Cargo and the Margin It Destroys
  11. A Worked Comparison of Two Cargoes at the Same Price
M6 Secondary Streams and the Jet Yield Swing Ch 70-80
  1. Why a Secondary Stream Only Counts When It Has an Outlet
  2. Refining Crude Glycerine or Selling It As It Comes
  3. Acid Oil and the Streams a Pretreater Produces
  4. The Jet Cut and What It Costs to Make
  5. The Premium a Jet Cut Must Earn to Justify the Swing
  6. Why Maximum Jet Yield Is Rarely the Best Answer
  7. The Fuel Standard a Jet Cut Must Satisfy
  8. Running Jet and Diesel Through One Set of Entitlements
  9. Heavy Residue, Off-Grade Product and Reprocessing
  10. A Worked Yield Swing Decision Across One Quarter
  11. The Secondary Stream Register a Plant Maintains
M7 Co-Processing Inside an Operating Refinery Ch 81-92
  1. What Co-Processing Actually Means at the Unit
  2. Why a Refiner Co-Processes Rather Than Builds
  3. The Co-Processing Rate and What Limits It
  4. The Displaced Barrel and Its Opportunity Cost
  5. Hydrogen Competition Inside a Refinery
  6. Proving How Much of the Product Is Renewable
  7. Determining Renewable Content by Mass or Energy Balance
  8. Determining Renewable Content by Radiocarbon Testing
  9. Which Determination Method a Scheme Will Accept
  10. Catalyst, Corrosion and Metallurgy Consequences
  11. The Co-Processed Statement Against a Standalone One
  12. When Co-Processing Is the Wrong Answer
M8 Capacity, Conversion and the Investment Decision Ch 93-104
  1. The Three Routes to Renewable Diesel Capacity
  2. What a Refinery Conversion Reuses and What It Must Add
  3. Why a Converted Site Inherits an Input Logistics Problem
  4. Converting Against Closing: The Alternative a Board Weighs
  5. Sizing a Plant Against Its Input Catchment
  6. The Pretreatment Investment as Purchased Flexibility
  7. Multi-Input Capability and What It Costs to Keep
  8. Debottlenecking Rather Than Expanding
  9. Nameplate, Achievable and Contracted Capacity
  10. The Hurdle a Policy-Dependent Margin Must Clear
  11. Phasing a Build to Keep the Decision Reversible
  12. A Worked Conversion Appraisal on One Site
M9 Running the Plant Against the Margin Ch 105-115
  1. The Daily Margin Board a Production Desk Reads
  2. Choosing the Marginal Input for Tomorrow's Run
  3. Turning Down Rather Than Stopping
  4. The Stop Decision and the Costs That Continue
  5. Restart Cost and the Run Length It Demands
  6. Turnaround Timing Against the Margin Calendar
  7. Holding Material at Both Ends of the Plant
  8. Why Yesterday's Result Is Not Today's Decision Variable
  9. Building the Replacement Cost Margin
  10. Reconciling the Reported Figure to the Modelled One
  11. Protecting the Margin Once It Is Identified
M10 Worked Cases and What the Margin Cannot Tell You Ch 116-125
  1. A Worked Year on a Multi-Input Ester Plant, Part One: The Slate
  2. A Worked Year on a Multi-Input Ester Plant, Part Two: The Decisions
  3. A Worked Year on a Multi-Input Ester Plant, Part Three: The Reconciliation
  4. A Worked Co-Processing Appraisal Against a Standalone Build
  5. The Blind Spots in a Per-Tonne Model
  6. Where This Arithmetic Breaks Under Contract
  7. What a Margin Model Cannot Tell You About Evidence
  8. The Case Against Input Flexibility, and Its Assumptions
  9. The Standing Input List a Margin Model Depends On
  10. What the Desk Can Now Do

The brochure gives each of these 125 chapters a paragraph on what it covers and what you can do once you have worked through it.

This is course 14 of twenty

It stands alone, and it is also the entry point to the Biofuels and SAF Desk Academy pathway.

Enrol or enquire See the whole pathway