We interviewed Andrew Lewis, Renewable Energy Group (REG)’s new Regional Sales Representative for Texas. He brings to his customers many years of experience in the fleet and fuel industry.
REG is headquartered in Ames, Iowa, with a significant presence throughout Texas. In addition to production facilities in Houston and New Boston, REG can distribute fuel from terminal locations in the Houston, Caddo Mills and Ft. Worth areas.
What does REG produce?
REG is North America’s largest producer of biodiesel, a renewable fuel that can directly replace diesel fuel with no engine modifications. REG has 14 active bio-refineries nationwide, including over 50 million gallons of biodiesel production in Houston and New Boston, Texas. REG is one of the only producers of renewable hydrocarbon diesel, a renewable fuel with the same specifications as diesel fuel. In 2016 alone, REG produced over 550 million gallons of biomass-based diesel.
How do Fleets benefit from using biodiesel?
Fleets using biodiesel see a significant reduction in greenhouse gas emissions. In addition, biodiesel increases lubricity, with a 2% inclusion of biodiesel doubling the amount of lubricity in the finished fuel blend. Biodiesel has higher cetane which improves engine performance. In Texas, biodiesel is exempt from state fuel tax and can reduce fleets’ overall fuel costs.
Customer information
Petroleum Wholesale of Houston, owns Sun Mart Convenience Stores and has been selling biodiesel blended fuel since 2013, with 95% of their locations now offering biodiesel. They started by offering B10 and gradually increased to offering B20 blends. The Texas state incentive and price advantage of biodiesel over traditional diesel has helped them improve fuel margins. Their biggest concern in switching to biodiesel was availability of product. With its strong network, REG provides a stable supply and steady pricing. “It’s about economics, and there are some very good incentives out there to utilize biodiesel,” said John Cook, President and CEO of Petroleum Wholesale. “Basically, all of our competitors started bringing it in. So, it didn’t take us long to realize we needed to get into it to stay competitive. There’s no downside to biodiesel and a lot of advantages to it.”
For more information about biodiesel or REG:
Andrew Lewis | Regional Sales Representative
REG-Renewable Energy Group | Houston, TX
(M) 515-509-3708 (O) 888-734-8686
andrew.lewis@REGI.com | www.REGI.com
