The Push to Net-Zero Carbon Transport with World Energy’s Gary Grimes

Path to Zero
Path to Zero
4.06 - The Push to Net-Zero Carbon Transport with World Energy’s Gary Grimes
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In this episode, Tucker visits with the director of sustainability for liquid fuels innovator World Energy. Gary Grimes is playing a key role in the huge investment the company is making in a new biofuel and hydrogen production facility in Southern California.

It’s fair to say that there is an urgent search underway for solutions to address carbon-related climate change and air pollution continues to be a big problem in many of our cities. World Energy is helping address both of these fronts.

The company operates a growing network of integrated fueling facilities to enable customers to meet their carbon reduction commitments. World Energy acquired the former Paramount Petroleum facility in 2018 to jump start its progress in this space. Instead of refining petroleum and asphalt, World Energy is transforming the facility to produce clean, renewable biofuels, including biodiesel, renewable diesel and sustainable aviation fuel.

By 2050 the facility will produce fuels that will displace more than 76 million metric tons of carbon dioxide, the equivalent of 3.8 million carbon-net-zero flights from Los Angeles to New York.

Gary Grimes updates Tucker on the progress the company is making on transforming the plant to increase production of renewable fuels and the role of liquid fuels in the energy transition.

“Aviation is an area that’s really difficult to turn to electric because batteries aren’t going to work for long range aviation,” says Grimes. “Liquid fuels will also play a big role with long range trucking. You can’t have a 40-ton truck with 39 tons of battery in it.”

Tucker and Gary also cover World Energy’s ambitious expansion of hydrogen production, the availability of different renewable feedstocks to make low carbon fuels and the overall efforts to reduce the carbon intensity of transportation.

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