The Board of Directors of Marathon Petroleum Corp. has greenlighted plans to convert its Martinez refinery in California into not a renewable fuels production facility, the company said on Wednesday. The conversion is part of Marathon’s commitment to producing low-carbon fuels to meet growing demand for renewable energy. It is also in line with the company’s commitment to cut greenhouse gas intensity by 30% by 2030 versus 2014 levels.
The converted plant is expected to begin producing renewable diesel in 2022 and achieve full capacity of 730 million gallons/year in 2023. Marathon has started engineering work and applied relevant permits for the project. Renewable diesel is produced from bio-based feedstocks such as soybean oil, animal fat, and corn oil. It has a smaller carbon footprint than fossil-based diesel. The Martinez plant’s greenhouse gas emissions will be 60% lower after the conversion, Marathon said. Its air pollutants will also decrease by 70%, while annual water use is expected to decline by 1 billion gallons.
