Mayor Lee Announces City’s Fleet Reaches Goal of Eliminating Use of All Petroleum Diesel

(Office of the Mayor, City and County of San Francisco) Estimated 50 Percent Emissions Reductions Will Be Achieved as Result of Ending Use of Petroleum Diesel & Replacing with Renewable Diesel

Mayor Edwin M. Lee today at the West Coast Mayors Summit announced that the City and County of San Francisco has completely ended its use of petroleum diesel in the City’s fleet and replaced it with renewable diesel, a change that will achieve a significant 50 percent greenhouse gas emissions reduction.

“As the global climate negotiations conclude, San Francisco and cities worldwide must continue to lead by taking bold actions that reduce greenhouse gas emissions immediately,” said Mayor Lee. “These actions cannot wait. San Francisco has ended its use of petroleum diesel to fill up the City’s fleet of vehicles and will significantly reduce greenhouse gas emissions and improve air quality for our residents immediately today.”

Mayor Lee first made the announcement in Vatican City at the Pontifical Academies of Sciences and Social Sciences’ Modern Slavery & Climate Change: The Commitment of the Cities conference, joining Pope Francis, Governor Jerry Brown, representatives of the United Nations and mayors and local governors from around the world to drive awareness, dialogue and action at the local level on climate change and modern slavery – two pressing, interconnected issues highlighted in the Pope’s encyclical, Laudato Si’.

San Francisco completed the switch to renewable diesel at all of the City’s fueling sites. The City’s Fleet Management Division estimates a 50 percent reduction, or 50,000 metric tons, in greenhouse gas emission as a result of ending the use of petroleum diesel and replacing it with renewable diesel. Using renewable diesel will also reduce the emissions of harmful air pollutants that harm the health of local residents and which disproportionately hurt San Francisco’s low-income communities because so much heavy duty vehicle traffic occurs in and near those communities.

“San Francisco is leading by example through the innovative management of our fleet of vehicles to combat climate change,” said City Administrator Naomi M. Kelly. “The use of renewable diesel is cost-neutral to San Francisco due to state and federal incentives to use renewable diesel. And it will also result in cleaner air for our transit operators, firefighters, and men and women in our bus yards and garages.”

In Fiscal Year 2014, the City used 5.8 million gallons of diesel fuel, of which 4.9 million was petroleum diesel, resulting in the emission of approximately 100,000 metric tons of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. The City maintains a robust fleet of vehicles, and 1,966 vehicles that rely on diesel fuel are affected by this change. This change will completely end the use of petroleum diesel at the 53 City-run fueling facilities immediately.

“The San Francisco Fire Department led a pilot program to change petroleum diesel to renewable diesel, and found that it was a reliable replacement,” said Fire Chief Joanne Hayes-White. “We are proud to be a part of our City’s leadership in fighting global climate change.”

The switch to renewable diesel is part of the City’s ongoing efforts to reduce emissions in its fleet and combatting climate change. The City started using cleaner forms of diesel fuel by transitioning to a blend of biodiesel. Before the switch to renewable diesel, most of the municipal fleet was using B20, which is 20 percent biodiesel and 80 percent petroleum diesel.

“This change to renewable diesel reflects the high value that the SFMTA places on sustainability and recognition of our role in addressing climate change through sustainable transportation,” said Director of Transportation Ed Reiskin. “Even though Muni already has one of the greenest bus fleets in the country, we remain committed to making our system even cleaner and more efficient. I’m proud that we are able to make this immediate change to our fleets to further reduce greenhouse gas emissions and improve our air quality.”

Renewable diesel is not the same as biodiesel. Both fuels are produced from numerous bio-feedstock sources, including fats, oils and greases, but the two fuels are produced through different processes. Renewable diesel uses a hydrogenation process, while biodiesel uses an esterification process. According to the California Air Resources Board, the full lifecycle emissions of carbon from renewable diesel produced from sustainable sources are more than 60 percent lower than either petroleum or B20 biodiesel. Chemically, renewable diesel is indistinguishable from petroleum diesel, and testing has shown it to have engine performance that matches or outperforms both petroleum diesel and biodiesel. READ MORE and MORE (Biodiesel Magazine) and MORE (Yahoo! Finance)