UPS tanks up on ‘renewable’ fuels

Express carrier UPS said it has entered agreements to obtain up to 46 million gallons of hydrocarbon-based fuels over the next three years, a 15-fold increase over earlier contracts.    Express carrier UPS said it has entered agreements to obtain up to 46 million gallons of “renewable” fuels over the next three years, a 15-fold increase over earlier contracts.
   Specifically, Neste, Renewable Energy Group (REG) and Solazyme will supply renewable diesel to UPS to “help facilitate the company’s shift to move more than 12% of its purchased ground fuel from conventional diesel and gasoline fuel to alternative fuels by the end of 2017,” UPS said. The company did not reveal the value of these latest fuel contracts.
   UPS’s previous goal was to drive one billion miles on alternative fuel and advanced technology vehicles by the end of 2017.
   “We have used more than three million gallons of renewable diesel to date with positive results,” said Mark Wallace, UPS senior vice president of global engineering and sustainability. “Renewable diesel has a huge impact significantly reducing lifecycle greenhouse gas emissions by up to 90 percent less versus conventional petroleum diesel.
   “Renewable diesel also performs well in cold weather, does not have any blending limitations and can be easily ‘dropped in’ to our fuel supply chain without modifications to our existing diesel trucks and equipment,” he added.
   Renewable diesel is an advanced hydrocarbon-based fuel that is fully interchangeable with petroleum diesel. Bio-based feedstocks from fats, plant oils and waste residues are converted to renewable diesel using advanced refining technologies. 
   “UPS believes these agreements are especially important because they will help stimulate demand for investment in refinery technologies and sustainable feedstocks needed to produce renewable fuels at a total cost that is comparable to more carbon-intensive petroleum fuels,” said Wallace. 
   The express carrier has used renewable fuels for more than year to power its trucks in Texas and Louisiana. UPS plans to use the new agreements to expand the use of this fuel in its truck fleets across the United States and parts of Europe.