UPS, the largest consumer of biogas in the transportation industry

February 5, 2020

Committed to its sustainability goals, UPS has entered into multi-year renewable natural gas agreements with Kinetrex Energy and TruStar Energy. These two contracts, which will supply UPS with up to 80 million gallon equivalents (GEs) of biomethane over the life of the agreements, build on a prior contract in which UPS agreed to purchase 170 million gallons of biomethane, its biggest commitment to date.

Over the next seven years, UPS has agreed to purchase 250 million GEs of biomethane total, making the company the largest consumer of this biofuel in the transportation industry. “The use of renewable gas is a very important part of UPS’s strategy to increase alternative fuel consumption to be 40% of total ground fuel purchases by 2025,” said Mike Whitlatch, vice president of global energy and procurement, UPS.

“We are using both LNG and CNG as bridging fuels to increase our use of biomethane. This will have a measurable impact as it yields up to a 90% reduction in lifecycle greenhouse gas emissions when compared to conventional diesel. Using this fuel is what will ultimately help UPS meet its 2025 sustainability goals,” he added.

The Kinetrex contract will supply UPS with up to 52.5 million GEs of biomethane to be used in its LNG-powered tractor trailer vehicles in Chicago, Columbus, Indianapolis, St. Louis and Toledo. The TruStar Energy contract will supply UPS with up to 27.5 million GEs of biomethane and will be used to fuel the company’s CNG-powered trucks in both Visalia and Moreno Valley, California

Additionally, UPS recently announced plans to purchase more than 6,000 natural gas-powered trucks through 2022. This three-year commitment represents a $450M investment in expanding the company’s alternative fuel and advanced technology vehicle fleet as well as supporting infrastructure.

Source: UPS