Going Green
Young’s to reduce carbon footprint by 75 percent
Young’s Commercial Transfer plans to reduce its carbon emissions by 75 percent by 2024.
The Porterville company, which is the largest agricultural transport company in the United States, plans to use what’s referred to as renewable natural gas, known as RNG. Young’s will use a process with those it serves in the Central Valley’s agricultural sector to turn waste into a byproduct that’s designed to be RNG.
RNG is natural gas produced from the decomposition of organic wastes from a variety of sources, including landfills, waste treatment plants and dairy farms. Young’s stated it will capture RNG from Central Valley dairies.
“It is the most sustainable commercially available transportation fuel and provides additional and significant greenhouse gas reductions over traditional diesel,” Young’s stated.
Young’s is converting its trucks to compressed natural gas, or CNG, trucks to use RNG. Young’s converted 20 percent of its trucks to CNG in June, 2020 and plans to convert an additional 20 percent of its trucks each year to reach its goal of 75 percent reduction by 2024.
Young’s stated this will lead to the reduction of 70 million pounds of carbon. Young’s has the goal to convert its entire fleet to CNG vehicles by 2025.
Young’s stated each gallon equivalent of RNG used in place of a 2019 model diesel engine results in an 84 percent reduction in carbon. Additionally, RNG reduces greenhouse gas emissions by 47 percent over electric vehicles that use typical electric grid power, Young’s stated.
“By working to convert the fleet, Young’s will continue to be an industry leader in sustainability,” the company stated.
Young’s Commercial Transfer hauls tomatoes, potatoes, citrus, and carrots and cattle feed. “Young’s is proud to be making a difference with its latest green initiative and will remain committed to achieving 75 percent carbon reduction by 2024,” the company stated.
Young’s is partnering with Trustar Energy to capture RNG from Central Valley dairies. On it’s website, Young’s stated CNG vehicles
have many advantages over traditional gasoline or diesel.
Price stability is one advantage as Young’s stated CNG is the most stable transportation fuel currently available with ability to lock in prices for multi-year periods. CNG is also safer as it only ignites at an extremely hot temperature, Young’s stated.
CNG engines are also much quieter than diesel or gasoline. CNG has the smallest carbon footprint of any current combustible fuel and renewable gas energy has a smaller carbon footprint than electric vehicles.
There are 170,000 CNG vehicles in the U.S. and 16 million CNG vehicles in the world. CNG vehicles also don’t require complex and costly after treatment like diesel.
Since RNG is produced locally it avoids issues involved with diesel such as price spikes and availability is also more stable.
Trustar has developed RNG production facility contracts to market dairy methane as renewable gas which is transferred into Southern California Gas Company’s existing pipeline. Trustar also partners with tcentral Valley truck fleets to use RNG.