The consumption of renewable diesel (RD) in California reached a new milestone in 2023, with RD blending surpassing that of petroleum diesel for the first time. Data released on Tuesday April 30 by the California Air Resources Board (CARB) showed that RD accounted for 1.97 billion gallons of the 3.6 billion gallon diesel pool, while petroleum diesel was 1.41 billion gallons.

RD consumption reached 547.4 million gallons in the fourth quarter of 2023, 3% above the third quarter’s blending of 531.8 million gallons and 48% over the fourth-quarter 2022 consumption of 370.3 million gallons.

Petroleum diesel consumption declined noticeably during the same timeframe. Fourth-quarter 2023 consumption of 320.7 million gallons was 18% below third-quarter consumption of 392.7 million gallons and 36% under fourth-quarter 2022 blending of 499.2 million gallons.

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