page_title: Diesel fuel
section_title: Trucks
hierarchical_section_title: Diesel fuel / Uses / Trucks
context_page_description: Diesel fuel in general is any liquid fuel used in diesel engines, whose fuel ignition takes place, without any spark, as a result of compression of the inlet air mixture and then injection of fuel. Diesel engines have found broad use as a result of higher thermodynamic efficiency and thus fuel efficiency. This is particularly noted where diesel engines are run at part-load; as their air supply is not throttled as in a gasoline engine, their efficiency still remains very high.
  The most common type of diesel fuel is a specific fractional distillate of petroleum fuel oil, but alternatives that are not derived from petroleum, such as biodiesel, biomass to liquid or gas to liquid diesel, are increasingly being developed and adopted. To distinguish these types, petroleum-derived diesel is increasingly called petrodiesel in some academic circles. Ultra-low-sulfur diesel is a standard for defining diesel fuel with substantially lowered sulfur contents. As of 2016, almost all of the petroleum-based diesel fuel available in the UK, mainland Europe, and North America is of a ULSD type.
context_section_description: Diesel fuel is widely used in most types of transportation. Trucks and buses, which were often gasoline-powered in the 1920s through 1950s, are now almost exclusively diesel-powered. The gasoline-powered passenger automobile is the major exception; diesel cars are less numerous worldwide.
caption: Fairbanks-Morse opposed piston diesel engines on a submarine
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