Golden Opportunity in the Golden State

California Fuels & Lubricants has a diverse group of fleet customers. There are trucking companies, local governments, construction crews, businesses that work in the Port of Los Angeles and even plant nurseries.

They may be in different industries, but there’s one thing the fleets have in common: a desire for cleaner-burning alternatives to petroleum diesel.

“One of the biggest trends we’re seeing is growing demand for biodiesel and renewable diesel,” says Jaime Duenas, President of California Fuels & Lubricants. “Fleets are trying to lower their greenhouse gas emissions and carbon footprints.”

Part of that trend is attributable to California’s Low Carbon Fuel Standard (LCFS), which requires a reduction in the carbon intensity of transportation fuels. But it’s also due to the worldwide trend of environmental sustainability supported by corporations, governments and individuals.

No matter the motivation, California Fuels & Lubricants is happy to supply the fuels to meet the demand.

“The renewable fuels help us meet the needs of our longtime customers and to bring on new customers that are looking for a cleaner fuel,” Duenas says.

Biodiesel as a solution

For California Fuels & Lubricants, those renewable fuels are biodiesel, renewable diesel and most recently, a blend of the two called  Ultra Clean BlenD™. It gets all three fuels from Chevron Renewable Energy Group.

California Fuels & Lubricants began offering biodiesel in 2014, starting with a B5 blend before quickly moving up to B20.

“There were customers looking for a higher blend for a couple of reasons,” Duenas says. “One reason was it helped them with their emissions. The other part of it was they got a little bit of a break on the pricing because of some of the financial advantages of using B20.”

Renewable diesel also popular

A year later, California Fuels & Lubricants expanded into renewable diesel. Like biodiesel, renewable diesel is an environmentally friendly fuel, but it’s made by a different production process and falls under the diesel spec, ASTM D975.

“Renewable diesel is another option for our customers that is good for the environment and performs well in their vehicles,” Duenas says.

A new blend

Now, in addition to offering biodiesel blends and renewable diesel individually, the company is selling a product with the two blended together. Known as UltraClean BlenD™, it has the best features of the individual fuels, including excellent Cetane, a low cloud point and added lubricity. The biggest benefit is on the environmental side. A renewable diesel and biodiesel blend significantly reduces total hydrocarbons, particulate matter, carbon monoxide and nitrogen oxide (NOx) compared with petroleum diesel.

California Fuels & Lubricants offers a blend that is 80 percent renewable diesel and 20 percent biodiesel, which it gets from Chevron Renewable Energy Group. But it’s not just their customers that use it.

“Our fleet is running on an RD B20 blend,” says Duenas. “That speaks to our confidence in the fuel’s performance and its emissions profile.”

Diverse supply for its customers

The popularity of all three fuels has kept California Fuels & Lubricants busy delivering to trucking yards, municipalities, construction sites and one of the world’s busiest ports.

“We are known as a company that offers a variety of fuels,” Duenas says. “Our customers are happy with the products, they’re happy with our service, and they’re happy with the overall experience of using our renewable fuels in their vehicles.”

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