Use of biofuels for powering company vehicle fleets is becoming widely spread. Another US corporation to have recently made the switch to biofuel is UPS. The international courier company has announced its plans to use bio methane as the fuel of choice for their delivery vehicle fleet. To better understand the importance of using biofuels it makes sense to know what bio methane is and how it is produced. Bio methane, is usually a gas compound i.e. it is a mixture of different gases. Typically, bio methane is produced by harvesting, purification and liquefaction of different gases produced and emitted by the anaerobic breakdown of organic matter. In simple terms, these are the gases that form when organic rubbish decays naturally or is composted in special treatment plants. Bio gas can be produced from a variety of organic waste substances. It is considered to be a renewable energy source with very little carbon footprint. Basically, bio gas is produced when anaerobic bacteria digest decaying organic matter, in biology this is called anaerobic digestion.
UPS have signed a deal with another American company called Clean Energy Fuels – a refiner of renewable fuels, for the supply of bio methane for its delivery vehicle fleet across California. UPS also plans to gradually expand its use of bio gas to other states where the company maintains a vehicle fleet. The company’s own fuelling stations in Los Angeles, Fresno and Sacramento as off this month are now using RNG (renewable natural gas) fuels, also known as redeem. Bio methane is currently used in delivery vehicles as well as some of the service and maintenance vehicles in use at UPS sites. At the moment, the three fuelling stations are able to provide the equivalent of one and a half million gallons of normal LPG annually, enough to power four hundred delivery vehicles in California alone. The whole exercise is part of UPS’ plan to drive one million miles on alternative fuels by the end of twenty seventeen.
The production of renewable natural gas or bio methane is in a sense versatile as it can be done by decomposition of different organic waste, in landfills, waste water treatment facilities etc. This underlines the importance of effective rubbish removal and waste separation as the only source of redeem gas is organic waste. Company bosses say that UPS’ switch to bio methane is a logical step as the demand for the company’s services is growing each year, yet UPS wants to reduce its carbon footprint. The effective use of bio methane shows that it pays off – it is just as efficient as diesel, but it is cheaper and doesn’t pollute the environment (or at least insignificantly when compared to conventionally derived fossil fuels). All in all, use of bio methane proves to be cost effective solution for businesses, and companies should definitely look into it. At the moment, UPS in the United Kingdom operates a number of specialised service vehicles on bio methane, powered in conjunction with Mercedes Benz.