This article presents the comparative bench testing results of a naturally aspirated, four stroke, four cylinder, water cooled, direct injection Diesel engine when running on Diesel fuel and shale oil that is produced in Estonia from local oil shale. The purpose of this research is to investigate the possibility of practical usage of the shale oil as the alternative fuel for a high speed Diesel engine as well as to evaluate the combustion efficiency, brake specific fuel consumption, emission composition changes and the smoke opacity of the exhausts. Test results show that when fuelling a fully loaded engine with shale oil, the brake specific fuel consumption at the maximum torque and rated power is correspondingly higher by 12.3% and 20.4%. However, the brake thermal efficiencies do not differ widely and their maximum values remain equal to 0.36-0.37 for Diesel fuel and 0.32-0.33 for shale oil. The total nitrogen oxide emissions from the shale oil at engine partial loads remain considerably lower although when running at the maximum torque and rated power, the NOx emissions become correspondingly higher by 21.8% and 27.6%. The smoke opacity of the fully loaded engine at a wide range of speeds is lower by 30-35%, whereas the carbon monoxide and unburned hydrocarbon emissions in the exhausts at moderate and full load regimes do not undergo significant changes. (C) 2004 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.