UPS this week stepped up its environmental activities with a pledge to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 20% by 2020 as part of a high-profile corporate event at the White House, signed deals to use more renewable fuels and released its sustainability achievements in 2014.
On Monday, UPS Chief Sustainability Officer and Vice President of Environmental Affairs Rhonda Clark joined Secretary of State John Kerry, senior White House officials and 12 other companies to launch the American Business Act on Climate Pledge. The pledge, also made by major groups including Apple, Coca-Cola, General Motors, Google, Microsoft, Pepsi-Co and WalMart, is designed to demonstrate that the US private sector is committed to tackling global environmental challenges ahead of the UN climate conference in Paris in December.
“UPS understands that the scope of tomorrow’s sustainability challenges requires us to adapt and innovate if we are to deliver more goods for our customers while increasing the efficiency of the transportation fleet,” said Clark. “Once individuals as well as businesses understand the value proposition, sustainability will become a way of life.”
In its pledge, UPS doubled its goal to an index-linked 20% GHG reduction (based on 2007 levels) and targeted a cumulative billion miles of package or freight movement in its alternative fuel/technology truck fleet by 2017. UPS already reduced GHG by 10% as of 2013, and improved this figure to 14% last year.
The company’s plan includes:
* Network and mode optimization to minimize the miles travelled and energy consumed.
* Investments in fuel-saving technologies to reduce our dependency on petroleum-based fuels.
* Investments in alternative fuel vehicles to help offset the use of conventional petroleum fuels.
* Energy conservation through facility design, operational practices, renewable energy, and retrofitting.
* Accurate, verified disclosure of global greenhouse gas emissions data per recognized standards.
On Wednesday, UPS announced agreements for up to 46 million gallons of renewable fuels over the next three years, constituting a 15-fold increase over prior contracts and making UPS one of the largest users of renewable diesel in the world. UPS aims to shift more than 12% of its purchased ground fuel from conventional diesel and gasoline fuel to alternative fuels by the end of 2017. The company has been using renewable fuels for more than a year in trucks operating in Texas and Louisiana, and the new agreements pave the way for expanded use across the U.S. and potentially in parts of Europe.
“Advanced alternative fuels like renewable diesel are an important part of our strategy to reduce the carbon emissions impact of our fleet,” said Mark Wallace, UPS senior vice president, global engineering and sustainability. “We have used more than three million gallons of renewable diesel to date with positive results. Renewable diesel has a huge impact significantly reducing lifecycle greenhouse gas emissions by up to 90 percent less versus conventional petroleum diesel. Renewable diesel also performs well in cold weather, does not have any blending limitations and can be easily ‘dropped in’ to our fuel supply chain without modifications to our existing diesel trucks and equipment.”
Renewable diesel is an advanced hydrocarbon-based fuel that is fully interchangeable with petroleum diesel and offers superior performance and benefits, much like how synthetic lubricants are used in cars instead of petroleum-based lubricants. Bio-based feedstocks from fats, plant oils and waste residues are converted to renewable diesel using advanced refining technologies. These new bio-refineries also have the capability to produce other renewable fuels such as renewable jet fuel, renewable gasoline and renewable propane.
In 2014, UPS accelerated its investment in an alternative fuel and advanced technology fleet of more than 5,000 vehicles, increasing the number of vehicles by 61 percent over 2013 and adding 1,100 natural gas vehicles. According to its annual Sustainability Report, UPS logged 154 million miles in 2014 toward its goal of driving 1 billion miles with the fleet by the end of 2017 – an almost threefold increase from 2013.
In addition, while e-commerce drove a 6.8% increase in package volume globally, UPS emitted fewer greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions per package, with total carbon emissions growing just 3.3%. This amounted to a 14.1 percent reduction in carbon intensity achieved since 2007, based on the company’s Transportation Index, which calculates emissions related to volumes.
