UPS to Buy Renewable Natural Gas at Three Calif. Clean Energy Stations
DALLAS — UPS Inc. said it has entered into an agreement to buy renewable natural gas from Clean Energy Fuels Corp. at three California locations.
UPS will fuel at stations in Los Angeles, Sacramento and Fresno. Clean Energy produces Redeem, the first RNG available in commercial quantities, the company announced in conjunction with this week's ACT Expo.
It will be used to fuel about 400 UPS vehicles in California, including about 45 Class 8 tractors, said Mike Whitlach, UPS' vice president of global energy and procurement, who spoke at ACT Expo's opening session May 5.
Using a variety of alternative fuels has allowed UPS "enormous flexibility" in its fleet-fueling operations, Whitlach said. The company operates tractors on RNG in the United Kingdom through a partnership with Mercedes-Benz.
RNG, also known as biomethane, can be derived from many sources, including decomposing organic waste in landfills, wastewater treatment and agriculture. The companies estimated the three stations will provide about 1.5 million gallon equivalents RNG fuel annually to nearly 400 UPS CNG vehicles in California.
"Our rolling laboratory approach provides a unique opportunity for UPS to test different fuels and technologies," said Mitch Nichols, UPS' senior vice president of transportation and engineering. "Today's RNG agreement will help mature the market for this promising alternative fuel [and] positions UPS to use RNG in its extensive natural-gas fleet, which includes more than 2,500 medium- and heavy-duty vehicles."
UPS is No. 1 in the Transport Topics Top 100 list of the largest U.S. and Canadian for-hire carriers.
