Why You Need an Integrated Energy Management Approach
The days of running on a single fuel source are nearly a thing of the past. Spurred by growing regulations and lower carbon targets, fleets are increasingly turning to alternative fuels.
Rather than thinking about a straight replacement, fleets should adopt an integrated energy management (IEM) approach — a comprehensive strategy that considers available fuel sources and adopts any and all options that meet their needs.
An IEM approach allows for a transition toward lower carbon options while taking into account the market readiness and affordability of various alternatives. This helps meet both short- and long-term business objectives and incorporates more types of energy sources to help achieve reduced carbon intensity goals. Diversifying energy sources also reduces the risk of being dependent on any single fuel type.
Stand-out options
Biodiesel and renewable diesel are proven solutions for an integrated energy management approach, with fleets running millions of miles a year on these drop-in fuels.
Compared with ULSD, biodiesel has greater cetane and lubricity and meets stringent ASTM specs, while its more complete burn leads to fewer issues with diesel particulate filters. Renewable diesel is covered by the same ASTM spec as petroleum diesel, but Chevron Renewable Energy Group produced renewable diesel has higher cetane and lower sulfur content and aromatics. Biodiesel blends and renewable diesel are both drop-in solutions that work in virtually any existing diesel vehicle and fueling infrastructure with typically no modifications needed.
The fuels also bring a number of advantages. Fleets can get the some of the best characteristics of each biodiesel and renewable diesel when they’re blended together, which is a product we call UltraClean BlenD™. Users get higher cetane, added lubricity and lower aromatics than ULSD, plus a great cloud point and no need for equipment modifications.
Then there are the environmental benefits. This blend can reduce particulate matter by over 40%, carbon monoxide by 25%, total hydrocarbons by up to 40% and nitrogen oxides by up to 10% compared with ULSD.3
IEM in action
So what does integrated energy management look like in practice? Let’s use a fleet with 100 vehicles as an example. Say they can afford to convert five trucks to electric, and performance-wise it makes sense for those to be the ones making short-range hauls. They also buy five compressed natural gas (CNG) trucks. Rather than keeping the other 90 running on just petroleum diesel, the fleet uses drop-in fuels like biodiesel, renewable diesel and blends such as our, UltraClean BlenD™. Now, 100% of the fleet is running on lower carbon fuels. This is integrated energy management.
Learn more about how to implement an integrated energy management approach by contacting Chevron Renewable Energy Group at (855) 405-0160 or email us at [email protected].
1 www.eia.gov/totalenergy/data/monthly/pdf/mer.pdf
2 Carbon reduction based on life cycle analysis versus petroleum diesel using CA-GREET model when available and, when not, GHGenius.
3 For a blend of 80% renewable diesel and 20% biodiesel. Data based on California Air Resources Board assessments compared to federal ULSD.
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