UPS has signed agreements with three suppliers for up to 46 million gallons of renewable diesel over the next three years as part of its goal to significantly reduce emissions by 2020, UPS has announced.

Neste, Renewable Energy Group (REG) and Solazyme will supply renewable diesel so UPS can move more than 12 percent of its purchased ground fuel from conventional diesel and gasoline fuel to alternative fuels. UPS has set a goal of driving 1 billion miles with alternative fuel and advanced technology vehicles by the end of 2017.

Renewable diesel is an advanced hydrocarbon-based fuel that's interchangeable with petroleum diesel and offers superior performance and benefits, according to UPS. Bio-based feedstocks from fats, plant oils and waste residues are converted to renewable diesel using advanced refining technologies.

UPS has been using renewable fuels for more than a year in trucks operating in Texas and Louisiana. The new agreements pave the way for expanded use across the U.S. and potentially in parts of Europe.

Neste, headquartered in Espoo, Finland, is the world’s largest producer of renewable diesel. Neste produces NEXBTL renewable diesel from a variety of feedstocks including more than half from waste and residues.

REG, headquartered in Ames, Iowa, produces renewable hydrocarbon diesel fuel from waste vegetable oils and animal fats at its Geismar, Louisiana, bio-refinery as well as biodiesel at nine bio refining locations in the U.S.

Solazyme, headquartered in San Francisco, produces a blended fuel made from microalgae and other renewable feedstocks.

Editor's note (8/4/2015): This headline has been updated to correct a reference to biodiesel.