Photo credit: Neste

Neste’s renewable diesel is now helping to power the city of San Diego, California. The city is using the biofuel in its vehicle fleet that includes service trucks, refuse packers, dump trucks, construction equipment and street sweepers among other vehicles.

“Air quality is a significant concern in many cities around the world today. Neste offers a drop-in solution for instantly reducing traffic-related local emissions and improving local air quality,” said Kaisa Hietala, executive vice president, Renewable Products at Neste. “We are very pleased that our innovative, low-carbon renewable diesel now benefits San Diego, the second largest city in California, as well as its inhabitants.”

According to Neste, the switch will improve air quality and reduce the fleet’s GHGs by up to 80 percent. Over 1,100 vehicles and equipment, representing approximately 25 percent of the city’s fleet, run on Neste Renewable Diesel, and no performance issues have been reported.

“This change will make a major part of our fleet greener overnight, creating more environmentally-friendly vehicles that are cheaper to maintain,” noted Mayor Kelvin L. Faulconer, City of San Diego. “By transitioning to renewable diesel, we’re significantly reducing the pollution caused by city vehicles that serve the public on a daily basis. We’re leading by example and showing other cities how to make common-sense changes to improve the environment around us.”

Alia Khouri, the City’s Fleet Operations Director, added, “We are constantly looking for ways to make San Diego’s fleet more sustainable, and advancements in alternative fuels are making it possible. Renewable diesel is going to help a significant portion of our fleet run much cleaner with less wear and tear on the engines compared to petroleum diesel.”

Neste Renewable Diesel is supplied to the City of San Diego by The Soco Group which is one of Neste’s distributors in California.