Which Industries Use Red Diesel?

Red diesel is a fuel with the same properties as ordinary diesel, but with a red dye added to it. This is to differentiate it from standard white diesel, because red diesel isn’t for use in ordinary road vehicles like cars or vans. Red diesel is a low-tax fuel, so the dye helps to prevent it from being used illegally, as well as allowing police to identify any vehicles using red diesel. 

If you can’t use red diesel in your car or in on-road vehicles, where can it be used? Many different industries rely on red diesel for their everyday operations, so see our guide below to find out more.

Agriculture

Red diesel is primarily used to power off-road machinery, including many machines used by the agriculture industry. These range from tractors, to combine harvesters, diggers and more. You can use red diesel on a public road in some cases, if the purpose is related to agriculture (or forestry or horticulture). One example would be moving a tractor between different areas of land, but the vehicle must not travel on public roads for more than 1.5km.

Construction

Red diesel is also used to power many machines in the construction industry, such as cranes, forklifts diggers or dump trucks. The VAT of red diesel is much lower (compared to regular white diesel) so construction companies can make significant fuel savings on larger projects.

Events

As well as fuelling machinery, red diesel can also be used to power equipment like a back-up generator. This means that it’s commonly used by those in the outdoor event industry and you might find red diesel powering a generator at a concert, fair, wedding or any other outdoor event.

Hospitals

Red diesel can also be used to fuel heating in commercial or industrial buildings. This includes hospitals and again, the lower VAT makes red diesel a very useful fuel for this industry.

If you’re looking for reliable red diesel delivery in Nottingham, Leicester or Derbyshire, get in touch with the team at Northern Oil. We’re one of the last truly independent fuel distributors in the area and are proud to provide affordable red diesel for the commercial and agricultural sector. We aim to deliver all products within one working day (or the same day in an emergency!) so give us a call today or contact us online to find out more.