This project has been designed by CanmetENERGY-Ottawa (CE-O, Natural Resources Canada) and its industrial partner CRB Innovations Inc. to assess the feasibility of sing lignin-derived diesel fuels in order to reduce the emissions of non-biogenic greenhouse gases and criteria air contaminants from the rail sector. These “drop-in” biofuels are hydrocarbon-based blending stocks fully compatible with conventional diesel fuels. CE-O and CRB Innovations Inc. have been working together on the development of technologies to convert lignin (a major component of wood) into renewable fuels under a multi-year task-shared agreement. CE-O develops and carries out the catalytic hydrotreatment whereas CRB deconstructs and fractionates lignocellulosic biomass and catalytically depolymerizes the lignin-rich fraction producing clean “oligomeric lignin feedstock” used by CE-O. In this project, the focus is to verify whether diesel fuel blends, containing lignin-derived diesel, can meet CGSB 3.18 specifications for locomotive fuel and then perform preliminary exhaust emission tests.