In the EU regulatory language, “gas oil” is the term used to describe a wide class of fuels, including diesel fuels for onroad vehicles, fuels for nonroad vehicles, as well as other distillate fuels. Within the gas oil classification, fuels for onroad vehicles (typically with sulfur content below 0.05%) are referred to as “diesel fuels”, while fuels for nonroad mobile machinery (typically with sulfur content up to 0.2%) are referred to as “gas oils intended for use by non-road mobile machinery (including inland waterway vessels), agricultural and forestry tractors, and recreational craft”.
Diesel fuel is liquid fuel used in diesel engines. The most common is a specific fractional distillate of petroleum fuel oil, but alternatives that are not derived from petroleum, such as biodiesel, biomass to liquid (BTL) or gas to liquid (GTL) diesel, are increasingly being developed and adopted. To distinguish these types, petroleum-derived diesel is increasingly called petrodiesel.[1] Ultra-low-sulfur diesel (ULSD) is a standard for defining diesel fuel with substantially lowered sulfur contents. As of 2007, almost all diesel fuel available in the United States of America, Canada and Europe is the ULSD type.
In the UK, diesel fuel for on-road use is commonly abbreviated DERV, standing for Diesel Engined Road Vehicle, which carries a tax premium over equivalent fuel for non-road use (see Taxation).[2] In Australia Diesel fuel is often known as 'distillate' [3]
Some of the important revisions of the EN 590 standard were:
EN 590:1993—The first EU diesel fuel specification. It established a sulfur limit of 0.2% in onroad and nonroad diesel fuels.
EN 590:1999—This standard reflected the sulfur (350 ppm) and cetane (51) specifications by Directive 98/70/EC.
EN 590:2004—Sulfur limits of 50 ppm (so called Euro 4) and 10 ppm (Euro 5) as regulated by Directive 2003/17/EC. FAME content of 5%.
EN 590:2009—FAME content of 7% as regulated by Directive 2009/30/EC. This directive also adopts mandatory biofuel requirements for refiners and introduces a 10 ppm S limit in nonroad fuels effective 2011.
Regulatory Terms. In the EU regulatory language, “gas oil” is the term used to describe a wide class of fuels, including diesel fuels for onroad vehicles, fuels for nonroad vehicles, as well as other distillate fuels. Within the gas oil classification, fuels for onroad vehicles (typically with sulfur content below 0.05%) are referred to as “diesel fuels”, while fuels for nonroad mobile machinery (typically with sulfur content up to 0.2%) are referred to as “gas oils intended for use by non-road mobile machinery (including inland waterway vessels), agricultural and forestry tractors, and recreational craft”.
These terms are also linked to the terminology used in the EU Common Customs Tariff. Different goods are assigned unique CN (Combined Nomenclature) codes to identify the tariffs that apply. Diesel fuel for onroad applications has a CN code of 2710 19 41. Gas oils for nonroad mobile machinery can have a CN code of either 2710 19 41 or 2710 19 45 depending on sulfur level.