Developer Red Sea Global has converted its full fleet of land vehicles to operate solely on low-carbon biofuel or electricity, becoming the first in the Kingdom to operate an eco-conscious supply chain, SPA reported yesterday, citing a company statement. RSG is a wholly-owned unit of the Public Investment Fund.
The saving: The biofuel used by the RSG is produced from locally sourced cooking oil, it said, adding that it only emits 0.17 kg of carbon dioxide equivalent per liter in comparison with the 2.7 kg per liter produced by burning regular diesel.
The company’s fleet is small today with under a dozen vehicles, but it aims to have 700 to 800 vehicles in its fleet by 2030 as part of its green hydrogen transition strategy for its mobility sector, it added.
RSG has been stepping up its sustainability game: RSG recently rolled out a fully-electric and remote-controlled robot to remove plastic waste and debris at its luxury tourist destination Red Sea project. The robot, which can detect items as small as 1 square centimeters, has the capability to clean 3k sqm in one hour.
And so is the Kingdom: The first biofuel production plant in the Kingdom was inaugurated last year in Al Jubail. The facility is operated by The Biofuel Company, which is wholly financed by local investors, with financial backing from Aramco’s VC outfit Wa’ed Ventures. The plant converts reclaimed cooking and palm oil into carbon-neutral biodiesel and has a yearly production capacity totalling some 4.2 mn liters of B100 biodiesel.
A new export? The refinery’s green fuel will be earmarked for the local market, with any surplus to be exported to European markets.