ESG Report - Report - Page 10
Low-Carbon Innovation
Ethanol
Valero renewable
diesel laboratory.
We have invested more than $5.1 billion to date in
our low-carbon businesses, making us the world’s
largest low-carbon transportation fuels producer.
Low-carbon liquid fuels offer substantially lower GHG
emissions, compared to petroleum-based fuels. These
investments also create shareholder value, since they
compete with refining projects for growth capital. Lowcarbon projects have been held to our minimum aftertax IRR.
The following are examples of high-return, low-carbon
projects we are currently producing, evaluating and/or
advancing.
Renewable Diesel
Interchangeable with petroleum and
produced primarily from waste feedstocks,
such as used cooking oil and animal fats,
renewable diesel offers up to 80% lower life cycle GHG
emissions.
In 2022, we successfully started operations at our
Port Arthur, Texas, renewable diesel plant, which
increased our total annual production capacity to 1.2
billion gallons of renewable diesel. Renewable propane,
a byproduct of the process, is also recovered and can
be used in the production of low-carbon hydrogen, as
a petrochemical feedstock
After a decade of
or as a low-carbon fuel.
investments, Valero
Additionally, we produce
is one of the world's
niche grades, such as arctic
largest producers of
renewable diesel, for use in
renewable diesel.
Arctic climates.
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Primarily blended into gasoline, ethanol is a
low-carbon, high-octane transportation fuel
that lowers life cycle GHG emissions by at
least 30%, compared with gasoline, and boosts the
octane rating of gasoline.
We currently operate
Valero is the world's
12 plants, located
second-largest corn
in the U.S. Midwest,
ethanol producer.
with a combined
production capacity of 1.6 billion gallons per year.
Our plants are dry mill facilities that process corn to
produce ethanol and co-products, such as dry distillers
grains (DDGs) and syrup for livestock feed, and inedible
corn oil. When blended with animal feed, DDG makes for
a protein-rich meal for livestock.
Fiber Cellulosic Ethanol
A second-generation fuel, Valero’s cellulosic
ethanol uses enzymes to convert waste
fibers into fuel, further reducing the carbon
intensity to the high 20s, compared with gasoline's CI
of approximately 100 gCO2e/MJ and electric vehicles'
(EV) average CI of approximately 50 (depending upon
battery components, manufacturing place and the
electric grid).6 A lower ethanol CI increases its value
in low-carbon markets. Additionally, when cellulosic
ethanol and carbon sequestration are combined, the
low-carbon ethanol product can have a CI in the single
digits.
Renewable Naphtha: Renewable Gasoline and
Low-Carbon Plastics
Renewable naphtha production capacity
was expanded to 50 million gallons per year
in 2022.
Renewable naphtha is a gasoline blending component
that lowers the CI of gasoline. It can also be used in
petrochemicals production, resulting in low-carbon
plastics and other products.
