Neste renewable diesel to power Oakland's city fleet

By Neste Oil | October 16, 2015

The city of Oakland, California, began filling up its vehicles with Neste’s NEXBTL renewable diesel in order to reduce the emissions of its municipal fleet. Oakland is the first major U.S. city to convert its entire fleet to renewable diesel. The switch from petroleum to renewable diesel took place in early October.

Reduced emissions resulting from the use of renewable diesel will allow the city of Oakland to decrease its carbon footprint and help meet ambitious greenhouse gas (GHG) reduction targets established by the city. Oakland operates 250 diesel-powered vehicles, which include street sweepers, dump trucks, tractors, construction equipment, and mowers. The city consumes about 230,000 gallons of diesel per year.

“The switch to renewable diesel supports our efforts to make Oakland a more sustainable, innovative, and vibrant city,” said Mayor Libby Schaaf. “The significant reduction in emissions provided by renewable diesel will create a healthier and safer environment for all of us.”

“NEXBTL renewable diesel is a solution to reduce both greenhouse gas emissions and tailpipe emissions, which municipalities can greatly benefit from,” said Kaisa Hietala, executive vice president, renewable products, Neste. “NEXBTL doesn't require any change in logistics and it can be used by all diesel engines without modifications. Thus, fleets can be switched to renewable literally overnight. When we are helping cities like Oakland reach their emission reduction targets, we are doing our job well. That’s also our business target.”

NEXBTL renewable diesel is increasingly being used by cities and corporations around the world. Many private and public fleets worldwide including Google's gBuses and UPS’s delivery trucks are relying on NEXBTL. Earlier this year, the City of San Francisco announced it will switch all of its diesel fleet to renewable diesel by the end of this year. The city of Walnut Creek also switched its diesel powered municipal fleet to renewable diesel in August.

NEXBTL renewable diesel is supplied to the city of Oakland and Walnut Creek by Golden Gate Petroleum, which is one of the first distributors of Neste’s NEXBTL renewable diesel in the U.S. Golden Gate Petroleum sells NEXBTL product through NeXgen Fuel, a company dedicated to bringing next generation fuels to the market.

“As an industry leader in alternative fuel distribution, Golden Gate Petroleum is pleased to offer Neste’s superior quality renewable diesel to our existing and new customers. To date, we have had no customer complaints and only positive feedback about this 100 percent sustainable fuel,” said Pat O’Keefe, vice president of Golden Gate Petroleum and CEO of NeXgen Fuel.