solar array to power biodiesel plant

John Sens always knew that he wanted to do two things with his life: play music and help protect the environment.

And his dreams came true. He moonlights as a bass trombonist and spends his days working to lower the carbon intensity of Chevron’s operations.

“I’ve been passionate about the environment since high school,” said Sens, a sustainability team lead with Chevron Renewable Energy Group.

Sens and his team recently celebrated a victory—starting construction on a solar array at Chevron’s Mason City, Iowa, biodiesel production facility.

The solar array was designed to be a long-term source of reliable, lower carbon intensity electricity for the facility. Panels were installed during the summer of 2024, and work is expected to conclude by the end of the year.

“It’s super gratifying to see this project come to fruition,” Sens said. “It’s not just a report in somebody’s inbox or a file. It’s something tangible that will have an impact.”

The 10-acre solar array is intended to produce enough electricity to meet as much as 43% of the biorefinery’s annual power needs.

This won’t be the first time Chevron Renewable Energy Group has powered a biorefinery with a renewable energy source.

In 2020, construction was completed on a single wind turbine that provides power to the company’s biorefinery in Albert Lea, Minnesota. Based on the Environmental Protection Agency’s Greenhouse Gas Equivalencies Calculator, that project has reduced carbon emissions by more than 22,500 metric tons since starting operations in December 2020.

Now that work on the Mason City solar array is proceeding, Sens is interested in exploring renewable energy opportunities at other Chevron Renewable Energy Group facilities.