UPS to Purchase Renewable Natural Gas from Clean Energy Fuels

UPS announced it has entered into an agreement to purchase renewable natural gas (RNG) for its delivery vehicle fleet from Clean Energy Fuels. The deal signifies UPS’s plan to significantly expand its use of renewable natural gas for its natural gas-powered fleet.

Clean Energy Fuels, co-founded by T. Boone Pickens, is the exclusive producer of Redeem, the first RNG made available in commercial quantities. UPS fueling stations in Sacramento, Fresno and Los Angeles will utilize Redeem RNG for refueling tractors and delivery vehicles in UPS’s fleet beginning this month. UPS and Clean Energy Fuels Corp. estimate that the three stations will provide approximately 1.5 million DGEs annually of RNG to fuel nearly 400 UPS CNG vehicles in California.

RNG, also known as biomethane, can be derived from many abundant and renewable sources, including decomposing organic waste in landfills, wastewater treatment and agriculture. RNG provides significant environmental benefits by capturing naturally occurring methane before it is released into the atmosphere as a greenhouse gas emission and turning that methane into a safe, useable fuel that displaces diesel.

“Renewable natural gas is critical to our effort to minimize UPS’s environmental impact while meeting the growing demand for our services,” said Mitch Nichols, UPS senior vice president of transportation and engineering. “This commitment also positions UPS to use RNG in its extensive natural gas fleet which includes more than 2,500 medium and heavy-duty vehicles.”

The first package delivery company to introduce alternative fuel tractors into its fleet, UPS operates one of the largest private alternative fuel and advanced technology fleets in the U.S. The company has a goal of driving one billion miles using its alternative fuel and advanced technology fleet by the end of 2017. For more information about UPS’s RNG initiative, visit longitudes.ups.com.