What is the Difference Between Diesel Oil and Gas Oil

The key difference between diesel oil and gas oil is that diesel oil is white in color while gas oil is red in color.

Chemically, there is no difference between diesel oil and gas oil because they have the same chemical composition. The difference between these two types of oils lies in their appearance and taxation.

CONTENTS

1. Overview and Key Difference
2. What is Diesel Oil
3. What is Gas Oil
4. Diesel Oil vs Gas Oil in Tabular Form
5. Summary – Diesel Oil vs Gas Oil

What is Diesel Oil?

Diesel is a liquid fuel we can use in diesel engines whose fuel ignition occurs without any spark. Since there is no use of a spark, the fuel ignites as a result of compression of the inlet air mixture and then injection of fuel. The fuel efficiency of diesel is very high. Moreover, there are several forms of this fuel, such as petroleum diesel, synthetic diesel, and biodiesel, categorized according to the origin.

In addition, the taxation of diesel is high comparatively. This is due to the fuel tax. Therefore, the price of diesel is also high. However, there are some countries that have “untaxed diesel” for use in agricultural purposes, recreational and utility vehicles, and for noncommercial vehicles. Moreover, hydrocarbons in this fuel have carbon atoms ranging from 10 to 15. It contains saturated hydrocarbons and aromatic hydrocarbons. However, the diesel that we use for machinery and equipment should have its sulfur content below 15 ppm.

What is Gas Oil?

Gas oil is a fuel that is cheaper than normal road diesel due to the rebated fuel used for heating, rail transport, and the agricultural sector. However, it should not be used in vehicles at any time on public roads. The red dye that is added to the fuel can help the police identify the difference between normal road diesel and rebated fuel.

There are different other names for gas oil, such as red diesel, cherry, 35 seconds, heating oil, etc. Sometimes, there is confusion between normal diesel oil (white diesel) and red diesel. Apart from the red dye, there is no particular difference in chemical compositions between white diesel and red diesel.

Typically, gas oil is used by commercial and agricultural sector equipment such as cranes, bulldozers, generators, bobcats, tractors, and combine harvesters. Moreover, it is often used by travelling fairs and carnivals to power their generators, and sometimes, it is used in the aviation industry (but usually, the aviation industry uses kerosene).

Red diesel is not used in vehicles that run on public roads due to taxation. White diesel that is available in petrol stations is taxed at a far higher rate than red diesel. The reason for adding the red color is because this low tax makes it tempting for diesel vehicle owners to use it in their vehicles. The tax rate for red diesel has been reduced to provide relief when its use on public roads was incidental or minor.

What is the Difference Between Diesel Oil and Gas Oil?

The difference between these two types of oils lies in their appearance and taxation. In fact, the key difference between diesel oil and gas oil is that diesel oil appears in white color while gas oil appears in red color. Moreover, taxation on diesel oil has a far higher rate than that on gas oil.

Below is a summary of the difference between diesel oil and gas oil in tabular form for side-by-side comparison.

Summary – Diesel Oil vs Gas Oil

Diesel is a liquid fuel that we can use in diesel engines whose fuel ignition occurs without any spark. Gas oil is a fuel that is cheaper than normal road diesel due to the rebated fuel used for heating, rail transport, and the agricultural sector. The key difference between diesel oil and gas oil is that diesel oil has a white color while gas oil has a red color. Moreover, diesel oil has a higher tax than gas oil.

Reference:

1. “Gasoline: Osh Answers.” Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety, Government of Canada. 15 Aug. 2022.

Image Courtesy:

1. “Fueling diesel car 20180227” By Santeri Viinamäki (CC BY-SA 4.0) via Commons Wikimedia
2. “Old red Porsche diesel Junior” By Alf van Beem – Own work (CC0) via Commons Wikimedia