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Clean fuels industry ready to provide solutions for decarbonization

As companies nationwide continue to set ambitious goals for reducing carbon emissions, the clean fuels industry is ready to help meet that demand.

Clean Fuels Alliance America CEO Donnell Rehagen says biodiesel and renewable diesel offer an immediate solution to carbon reduction efforts.

“As products move around the globe between companies that have these major decarbonization goals, our fuels are going to play a huge role in that,” he says.

He says there is interest from rail and marine, as well as aviation markets with sustainable aviation fuel.

Veronica Bradley is the director of environmental science for Clean Fuels Alliance America.

“In my role I look to quantify and educate people on the environmental value of our fuels,” she says. “So, our ability to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and improve air quality.”

She tells Brownfield, “when you use an agricultural feedstock, you’re using a biomass based feedstock. So, rather than a fossil feedstock like in fossil fuels and petroleum diesel, a bio-based feedstock for biodiesel, renewable diesel, or sustainable aviation fuel is emitting less greenhouse gas emissions relative to petroleum fuel on a life-cycle basis.”

Bradley says biodiesel, renewable diesel, and sustainable aviation fuel are ready to contribute to emission reduction goals.

“One of the benefits is that these fuels are drop-in fuels and so you don’t have to make extra capital investments or wait for future technologies to come to fruition and become commercialized to be able to reduce emissions today,” she says. “As an environmental scientist, I think that’s what we need to be doing. Emission reductions today are more important than emission reductions tomorrow. It’s about the accumulative greenhouse gas emissions in our atmosphere and we can do that today and avoid that build up.”

Brownfield interviewed Rehagen and Bradley during the 2023 Clean Fuels Conference.

Audio: Veronica Bradley