2026 Valero Report on Guiding Principles - Report - Page 7
Introduction
Safety
Environment
Employees
Community
How are low-carbon fuel supply chains documented? International
sustainability certi昀椀cations are designed to ensure that low-carbon
fuels are sustainably sourced and produced, traceable, and correctly
classi昀椀ed through the supply chain,7 including:
• Origin stage. Accepted feedstocks include waste and residues (i.e.
used cooking oil, animal fats), agricultural biomass (i.e. vegetable
oils) and recycled or circular materials (i.e. corn 昀椀ber for cellulosic
production) that include proof of origin, feedstock classi昀椀cation and
supply chain documentation.
• Gathering or collecting point. Volumes from multiple sources are
consolidated, and documentation is collected and veri昀椀ed.
• Chain of custody. A standard set of documents are used to track
feedstocks as they move through the supply chain. Each movement
is documented and veri昀椀ed.
Governance
Appendix
Animal fats and tallow
used in the production
of renewable diesel or
SAF are not produced
speci昀椀cally for fuel—
they are a waste stream
collected at rendering or
gathering facilities. The
international certi昀椀cations
treat these as waste or
residue feedstocks.
• Mass balance system. Because feedstocks are physically mixed,
suppliers and producers use a mass balance approach to ensure
traceability without requiring physical segregation.
• Production facilities. Certi昀椀cations demonstrate veri昀椀ed GHG
emissions of the 昀椀nal product as well as accurate mass balancing and full supply chain traceability.
• GHG emissions accounting.7 For each certi昀椀ed 昀椀nished fuel, a life cycle GHG emissions analysis calculation is
veri昀椀ed to ensure the delivery of life cycle GHG emissions reductions, compared with fossil fuel alternatives.
What is life cycle analysis
or LCA? It is a cradle-tograve analysis to determine a
fuel's CI. In the case of liquid
transportation fuels, LCA means
calculation of the aggregate
quantity of GHG emissions
related to the full fuel life cycle,
including all stages of fuel
and feedstock production and
distribution, from feedstock
generation or extraction through
the distribution, delivery and
use of the 昀椀nished fuel by the
ultimate consumer, as depicted
in the graphic to the right.
FEEDSTOCK
PRODUCTION AND
TRANSPORTATION
FUEL PRODUCTION
AND DISTRIBUTION
USE OF THE
FINISHED FUEL
CROP-BASED AND
WASTE
LOW-CARBON FUEL
FACILITY
TRANSPORTATION
FUEL
Energy Inputs
Chemical Inputs
Process Energy Use
Material Inputs
Do low-carbon fuels reduce GHG emissions? Yes, low-carbon fuels reduce life cycle GHG emissions. In the case of
corn ethanol, our product offers at least 30% lower life cycle GHG emissions, 2 compared with petroleum gasoline.
The reduction percentage could be higher if certain feedstocks such as corn kernel 昀椀ber are used or if the energy
intensity in ethanol's production or supply chain decreases. Renewable diesel and neat SAF offer up to 80% lower
life cycle GHG emissions, 2 compared with traditional diesel and jet fuel, respectively. The reduction percentage
changes depending on the LCA methodology or pathway, feedstocks and energy intensity in the supply chain,
such as feedstock gathering mileage or distribution mileage of the 昀椀nished product. In addition, global lowcarbon fuel programs calculate life cycle GHG emissions with different assumptions and models.
Valero Report on Guiding Principles •
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