United Parcel Service is expanding its alternative fuel purchasing agreement with Clean Energy Fuels Corp. as the parcel carrier plans to buy up to 500,000 gallon equivalents of renewable liquefied natural gas (RLNG) annually in Texas.
That fuel aims to power roughly 140 tractors based Houston and Mesquite, Big Brown said.
The deal builds on UPS’s current agreement with Clean Energy Fuels whereby UPS is using approximately 1.5 million gallon equivalents of renewable compressed natural gas (RCNG) annually in California, where UPS operates nearly 400 CNG vehicles.
“Renewable natural gas is helping us to meet growing customer demand while reducing our environmental impact,” said Mark Wallace, UPS’s senior VP of global engineering and sustainability, in a statement. “By the end of 2017 we will have driven one billion miles with our alternative fuel and advanced technology fleet.”
Clean Energy markets its brand of RLNG under the name Redeem, a fuel also known as biomethane, which can be formulated as either CNG or LNG and is derived a variety of sources, such as decomposing organic waste in landfills, wastewater treatment and agriculture.
Clean Energy added that this new RLNG deal is part of UPS’s 2015 initiative to “significantly” expand its use of renewable natural gas blends within its alternative fuel fleet of over 6,840 all-electric, hybrid electric, hydraulic hybrid, CNG, LNG, propane and light-weight fuel-saving composite body vehicles.
In 2014, UPS said 5.4% of its total gasoline and diesel purchases got displaced by using alternative fuels such as propane, natural gas, ethanol, renewable diesel, and electricity.
