Road Fleets Demand More Sustainable, Low-Carbon Fuels for Freight

Sustainable Fuel Buyers' Principles to Help Companies Drive Economic Growth and Emissions Reductions 

Santa Monica, Calif., May 16, 2017 /3BL Media/ - Companies including several of the world’s largest road fleets and freight buyers have signed onto BSR’s new Sustainable Fuel Buyers’ Principles, committing to accelerating the transition to sustainable, low-carbon fuel and related technologies. Launched at the Advanced Clean Transportation (ACT) Expo 2017, the seven principles will demonstrate demand and catalyze the partnerships needed to drive a sustainable transition in the freight fuel system by focusing on three areas: building the market for low-carbon fuels, managing sustainable progress, and developing partnerships and collaborations for systemic solutions.

Buyers and shippers who support the principles seek business partners who can help to:

1. Support low-carbon, sustainable fuel choices

2. Demonstrate competitiveness

3. Advance investment, pilots, and standardization

4. Measurably improve well-to-wheels climate impacts

5. Address other relevant sustainability impacts and benefits

6. Invest in R&D breakthroughs

7. Collaborate for systemic solutions

“We see the Sustainable Fuel Buyers’ Principles as a great way to build demand with other leading buyers seeking low-carbon fuels and to promote the partnerships with our own suppliers that will ensure UPS’s success,” says Mike Whitlatch, Vice President for Global Energy and Procurement at UPS, a signatory of the principles. "UPS understands the importance of using alternative fuels and has invested more than $750 million in alternative fuel and advanced technology vehicles and fueling stations globally since 2009.”

Elizabeth Fretheim, Senior Director for Logistics Sustainability at Walmart, also a signatory, says: “As the first retailer with a verified science-based targets emissions reduction plan, Walmart understands the importance of

incorporating the utility of more sustainable, low carbon fuels in our fleet operations. The Sustainable Fuel Buyers’ Principles is a noteworthy initiative that sends a demand signal for cleaner fuel innovations and provides a forum for like-minded companies to collaborate on our sustainability goals.”

Rod DeGesero, Director of Global Logistics Procurement & Partner Management at HP Inc., another signatory, comments: “HP is pleased to be the first consumer electronic products company to sign onto the Sustainable Fuel Buyers’ Principles in support of our efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions across HP’s global supply chain. BSR’s green freight initiatives like Clean Cargo Working Group (CCWG) and Future of Fuels helps us collaborate with peers to demonstrate demand and partner with suppliers to make progress.”

“As one of the largest commercial fleet operators in the U.S., PepsiCo has seen the benefits—both environmentally and economically—of taking a leadership role embracing fleet sustainability and fuel efficiency,” says Mike O’Connell, Senior Director Supply Chain, PepsiCo, another signatory. “We believe the Sustainable Fuel Buyers’ Principles will help spur innovation that can further reduce greenhouse gas emissions and increase the adoption of fuel-saving technologies for road fleets nationwide.”

Scott Hemphill, Global Sustainability Developer at IKEA Transport, also a signatory, says: “IKEA has been pioneering the use of alternative fuels in several countries in recent years and we are acutely aware of the challenges to implementing low-carbon fuels in many of our markets. We see the uptake of alternative fuels as an extremely important part of our decarbonisation strategy and welcome all efforts to improve the availability and economic feasibility of low-carbon fuels.”

“Shifting the heavy-duty freight sector to low-carbon alternative fuel and vehicle technologies that deliver comparable performance, fuel efficiency, and environmental benefits is needed to achieve the emission reduction targets set by the Paris Agreement, “ says Karen Hamberg, Vice-President, Strategy at Westport, a Future of Fuels member. “Signatories to the Principles are providing a critical market signal to OEMs (original equipment manufacturers) and clean-technology solutions providers like Westport Fuel Systems that leading fleets see an investment in low-carbon fuels as the path forward and will drive the commercial availability of a wider range of alternative fuel and vehicle technologies suitable for a diverse heavy-duty freight sector.”

The Sustainable Fuel Buyers’ Principles were developed by BSR’s Future of Fuels, a business-to-business fuel- neutral group focused on lifecycle energy sustainability. The mission of Future of Fuels is to drive a sustainable transition to low-carbon commercial road freight with new tools, convenings, and partnerships. The principles complement the Fuel Sustainability Tool (available free) developed last year as the world’s first apples-to-apples way to compare emissions reductions from investments in efficiency and the advanced fuel technologies entering the market. Fleet owners, OEM’s, fuel producers, and shippers can apply to join the membership of Future of Fuels.

Nate Springer, BSR’s Manager of Future of Fuels commented: “The Sustainable Fuel Buyers’ Principles show growing buyer demand to spark new partnerships with suppliers for more low-carbon, sustainable fuels. Together with our Fuel Sustainability Tool, companies know what the market wants and how to make progress on more sustainable fuels.”