City of Raleigh, North Carolina, 1st in Southeast US to offer renewable diesel

Photo: The City of Raleigh, North Carolina

The city of Raleigh, North Carolina, announced Sept. 3 that it is leading the way as the first municipality in the Southeast United States to use renewable diesel, setting a new standard for sustainability in the region.

As the city’s vehicle fleet services team continues to find ways to create a more sustainable fleet, R99 renewable diesel fuel has officially entered the city’s fuel pumps.

“We are excited to bring R99 fuel to our city of Raleigh fuel pumps,” the city stated.

The city said that with renewable diesel production located in other regions of the country, it took significant collaboration to make this happen.

“Our vehicle fleet services fiscal team worked closely with procurement to set up a contract with Mansfield Energy for renewable diesel delivery to our central operations location,” the city stated.

While the cost of the R99 is slightly higher than regular diesel, the benefits outweigh the price significantly, the city stated.

Renewable diesel is chemically the same as petroleum diesel but is made with recently living biomass rather than the typical crude oil.

R99 diesel fuel uses repurposed animal fats, used cooking oil and agricultural waste products.

After impurities are removed with processing, it undergoes treatment using high-pressure hydrogen, which eliminates the oxygen and extracts any water.

As a result, it has a very low carbon footprint and is a sustainable alternative to the traditional diesel fuel.

Renewable diesel can be used in all diesel engines with no need for any modifications, making it a seamless substitute for regular diesel.

“Our central operations fuel pumps are operating as a trial run for the R99 diesel fuel,” the city stated. “If it goes well, we plan to expand it to the rest of our diesel-fuel pumps.”