Shell rolls out Starship 3.0 with Cummins' new X15N natural gas engine

Cummins' new X15N natural gas engine will power Shell’s Starship 3.0 when it hits the road this summer, the energy giant announced Tuesday at the Advanced Clean Transportation Expo in Anaheim, California.

Shell Renewable Natural Gas (RNG) will fuel the sleek, aerodynamic truck when it travels from San Diego, California, to Jacksonville, Florida, in August.

[Related: Renewable diesel production 'booming' as national availability remains in question] 

“[RNG] has a much lower carbon intensity than the diesel,” said Dr. Selda Gunsel, Shell’s president of global solutions and vice president of fuels and lubricants technology. “In fact, if renewable natural gas is obtained from dairy cow waste, it actually has a negative carbon intensity. It means it takes more carbon out of the environment than it produces during combustion.”

Brothers (left to right) Eric and Brian Rector will be driving Shell Starship 3.0 cross-country on its test run in August.Tom QuimbyRNG has the lowest carbon intensity value of all transportation fuels. The California Air Resources Board currently lists RNG with a negative carbon intensity value of -600. Electric is listed at -225 thanks to RNG that’s used to fuel natural gas power plants. Shell is working to expand availability of the fuel.

“We are dedicated to expanding our production supply and infrastructure capability in providing renewable natural gas to the industry in the U.S.,” Gunsel said.