PepsiCo Touts Prospects for Biodiesel

BOONE, Iowa (DTN) -- Amid the tractors, implements and seed dealers at the Farm Progress Show, one of the country's biggest food and beverage companies was promoting its use of higher biodiesel blends to haul its products and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

PepsiCo teamed up with Clean Fuels Alliance America to show how PepsiCo is converting its semi-truck fleet to use more biodiesel and reach PepsiCo's ambitious "net-zero" emission goals.

On a muggy afternoon, offering free cold Gatorade and water bottles to farmers and others who visited their booth space might have given PepsiCo and Clean Fuels a leg up on getting the casual observer to learn more about the prospects of using higher blends of biodiesel in fleet vehicles.

PepsiCo also is the corporate owner of Frito-Lay products. With its food and beverage businesses, PepsiCo has one of the country's largest private fleets with more than 80,000 diesel trucks and delivery trucks.

COMMITTED TO TARGET

PepsiCo has committed to a 2030 target to reduce its direct and indirect emissions -- Scope 1 and 2 -- by 75%. PepsiCo also wants to reduce its broader supply chain emissions -- Scope 3 -- by 40% in 2030. PepsiCo has a broader target to reach net-zero emissions by 2040.

PepsiCo began testing 99% to 100% biodiesel blends, or B99/B100, and away from traditional diesel fuel to lower its transportation emissions. A 99% blend is nearly all biogenic, or non-fossil fuel.

"So, from that standpoint of being nearly a 100% biogenic fuel, it has a massive impact on reducing additive CO2 (carbon dioxide) into the air," said Adam Buttgenbach, director of fleet engineering and sustainability at PepsiCo.

At the show, PepsiCo had a new semi-truck at the show equipped with a vector system from Optimus Technologies Inc. that helps the semi-truck run on B100. PepsiCo has outfitted at least part of its fleet with the vector system, which includes a manifold of sensors, a heat exchanger, and fuel lines that warm up the biodiesel and condition it to use. The system essentially allows a semi-truck to flip from traditional diesel fuel to a higher biodiesel blend such as B99 or B100.

CAN STILL OPERATE IN WINTER

The vector system allows semi-trucks to run on B100 and still operate in winter conditions. "That's one of the concerns with biodiesel is that in the winter it can freeze solid," Buttgenbach said. "So, the truck will start up on regular diesel and once it gets running, then the biodiesel tank gets warmed up to operating temperature because it has a heat exchanger in it. Then when the truck is going down the road, it will switch over and run on B100 going down the highway."

When it's shut down, the fuel lines are flushed with regular diesel fuel to prevent freezing. "For our drivers, it's seamless," Buttgenbach said. "Our goal for them is that they shouldn't notice a difference. They are just driving another truck that's now running on a biogenic fuel, which is reducing our emissions."

The system allows companies to track biodiesel usage as well as report on reductions in carbon emissions.

SOME TRUCKS ALREADY CONVERTED

With 80,000 or so trucks, PepsiCo right now has converted 50 of its trucks to use B100, mainly in Topeka, Kansas, and Beloit, Wisconsin. Year-to-date PepsiCo/Frito-Lay has used about 250,000 gallons of biodiesel at those two facilities.

Buttgenbach said PepsiCo also has used up to 99% blends of renewable diesel in its West Coast fleet during the past three years, topping about 2 million gallons.

While biodiesel blends can be found nationally, it's also a challenge to find enough 99% or 100% biodiesel in large supplies. To solve that, PepsiCo is installing tanks at its own locations to fill with B99 or B100 blends.

"It's just not accessibility to a lot of people at the B99 or B100 level," Buttgenbach said. "We are looking at expanding those tanks at our own locations, as well as partnering with retailers with the ultimate goal of having fuel available at retail."

A broader network of B100 pumps retailers nationally would help reduce PepsiCo's emissions, but also indirect emissions for PepsiCo's supply chain such as outsourced transportation -- known as Scope 3 emissions.

FUEL STATIONS NATIONALLY

Nationally now there are now only about 75 fueling stations where B100 is offered. About 2.4 billion gallons of biodiesel are used domestically with lower blend levels.

While B20 is more readily available nationally, Buttgenbach said a 20% biodiesel blend doesn't get PepsiCo to meet its greenhouse-gas reduction goals.

More states now offer B20 blends, but just a handful of states -- Arkansas, California, Illinois, Iowa, Minnesota, Oklahoma and Oregon -- make up the bulk of B20 fuel stations nationally, according to the Department of Energy's Alternative Fuels Data Center.

Chris Clayton can be reached at Chris.Clayton@dtn.com

Follow him on social platform X @ChrisClaytonDTN

(c) Copyright 2024 DTN, LLC. All rights reserved.