UPS to use renewable fuels for trucks in Memphis and Jackson

UPS will be supplying its fleet based in Memphis and Jackson with renewable natural gas (RNG) from landfills. The company will be sourcing the RNG through a new multi-year agreement with Memphis Light, Gas and Water and Atmos Energy Marketing.

The deal is part of an initiative announced earlier this year by UPS to significantly expand its use of renewable natural gas in UPS’s alternative fuel and advanced technology fleet.

The RNG will fuel more than 140 heavy duty trucks in Memphis and Jackson, part of UPS’s natural gas fleet, which includes more than 3,800 medium and heavy duty vehicles worldwide. RNG, also known as biomethane, can be derived from many renewable sources, including decomposing organic waste in landfills, wastewater treatment and agriculture. It is then distributed through the natural gas pipeline system, making it available for use as liquefied natural gas (LNG) or compressed natural gas (CNG).

In addition to natural gas, UPS also uses many other alternative fuels in the UPS fleet, including propane, ethanol, renewable diesel, and electricity. In 2014, 5.4 percent of total gas and diesel purchased was displaced by using these alternative fuels.

“UPS operates one of the most diversified fleets in private industry today, and renewable natural gas is a critical part of our strategy to expand our fuel sources and minimize the environmental impact associated with growing customer demand,” said Mark Wallace, UPS senior vice president global engineering and sustainability. “We are using methane that otherwise would be released into the atmosphere as a greenhouse gas emission and converting it to power our trucks while helping to promote the use of this renewable fuel in transportation.”