New Jersey Natural Gas to fuel fleet on Neste renewable diesel
24 April 2024
The move will make Neste MY Renewable Diesel available in New Jersey for the first time.
Finnish renewable diesel fuel maker Neste and New Jersey Natural Gas (NJNG) recently announced the latter will be switching its medium-duty trucks and associated equipment to renewable diesel in a bid to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. NJNG said the move will make it the first natural gas utility on the East Coast to use renewable diesel to fuel a portion of its fleet operations.
HVO availability expands to the East Coast
A challenge to HVO adoption for medium- and heavy-duty fleets in the United States is its availability. The latest data from the U.S. Dept. of Energy’s (DOE) Alternative Fuels Data Center showed 606 public renewable diesel fueling locations in the U.S. However, all of those are in the Western U.S. — primarily in California — with the easternmost location being in Jackson, Wyo. Furthermore, just 52 of those are capable of serving medium- and heavy-duty vehicles — and all are in California, Oregon or Idaho.
However, with the announcement that New Jersey Natural Gas (NJNG) would be using renewable diesel from Neste for some fleet operations, the availability of HVO would appear to be expanding to the East Coast.
K.W. Rastall Oil is NJNG’s fuel supplier. Sam Rosenburgh, assistant general manager for K.W. Rastall, said via email that Neste renewable diesel is a recent addition to its services, “both for delivery and now available at our truck stop on Route 130 in North Brunswick, N.J.” He referred Power Progress to an April 2 press release in which K.W. Rastall announced it would be the first company in New Jersey to provide Neste’s brand of HVO.
“Offering Neste MY Renewable Diesel allows us to make a significant impact on reducing carbon emissions in New Jersey while providing our customers with a superior, drop-in replacement of traditional fossil diesel,” said David Rosenburgh, president of K.W. Rastall Oil.
The press release added that the renewable diesel would be made available “to a wide range of customers, including fleet operators, transport companies and individual consumers.”
Neste said it sees an increasing demand for lower-emission fuels like HVO across the U.S.
“This is also the reason why we have been deepening our efforts with our distribution partners to increase not only the availability but also accessibility of renewable diesel to both existing and new markets like the Atlantic Coast,” said Carrie Song, senior vice president, Global Commercial, Renewable Products at Neste, via email. Citing K.W. Rastall’s fueling station in New Jersey, she added, “In the past, we’ve achieved great success in expanding our product’s footprint on the West Coast, and now we hope to see partnerships like this encourage more adoption of renewable fuels elsewhere.”
According to its 2023 annual report, Neste is the leading producer of renewable diesel in the world. In the United States, the company has a joint renewable diesel operation with Marathon Petroleum.
Neste MY Renewable Diesel is now available in New Jersey at K.W. Rastall Oil’s North Brunswick, N.J., truck stop. (Photo: K.W. Rastall Oil)
Branded Neste MY Renewable Diesel, the fuel — also known as hydrotreated vegetable oil (HVO) — is made from sustainably sourced, 100 percent renewable raw materials, Neste said. It added that renewable diesel, which is a drop-in replacement for fossil diesel, can reduce GHG emissions by up to 75 percent over the life cycle of the fuel when compared to fossil diesel.
NJNG said approximately 70 medium-duty trucks in its fleet currently run on Neste MY Renewable Diesel. The utility said it expects this to help reduce GHG emissions by as much as 550 tons annually — equivalent to the annual direct GHG emissions of over 120 passenger vehicles according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Greenhouse Gas Equivalencies Calculator.
“Innovation and new technologies will be critical to reduce emissions economywide and reach New Jersey’s climate goals,” said Patrick Migliaccio, senior vice president and COO of NJNG. “New Jersey Natural Gas’ use of renewable diesel to help reduce our fleet emissions is the next step toward this goal.”
In January 2020, New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy unveiled the state’s Energy Master Plan, which according to the press release at the time has an overarching goal of 100 percent clean energy by 2050. Regarding the transportation sector, the plan includes “leveraging technology to reduce emissions and miles traveled,” the release said.
According to Neste, availability of its renewable diesel is made possible by mobile on-site fueling company Diesel Direct in partnership with NJNG’s fuel supplier K.W. Rastall Oil, North Brunswick Township, N.J.
“Innovative companies like NJNG are paving the way toward a larger-scale transition to renewables and a cleaner energy future,” said Carrie Song, senior vice president, Global Commercial, Renewable Products at Neste. “This partnership demonstrates the increasing demand for lower-emission fuels across the entire nation.”
Neste said it is increasing its annual production capacity to 1.9 billion gallons of renewable products globally in 2024. It was one of the first companies to supply renewable diesel to states on the West Coast, Neste said, and is rapidly expanding its production, fueling station network and distribution capabilities to meet the growing demand across the U.S.
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