Advanced Diesel, Other ICEs, and Low-Carbon, Renewable Fuels Are Essential to Achieving California’s Climate and Clean Air Goals for Trucking

October 28, 2022

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(Diesel Technology Forum) The Diesel Technology Forum (DTF) issued the following statement with regards to the California Air Resources Board’s consideration of the so-called Advanced Clean Fleets rule (ACF), which would require trucking fleets purchase zero emissions vehicles beginning in 2040.

Diesel is the dominant fuel and technology powering California’s commercial trucking sector. Today more than 1 million diesel powered commercial trucks are registered and operating in California. About half of all diesel trucks are of the newest generation with near-zero emissions performance.

There is no denying that new zero emissions technologies for the trucking sector are emerging; some of the members of the Diesel Technology Forum are making them.

The future fleet policies that California is considering take a narrow definition of qualified technologies; one that largely excludes the primary technologies powering the industry today such as advanced diesel, natural gas, and other internal combustion engines (ICE).

Advanced diesel and other ICE technologies achieve near-zero emissions while using less fossil fuel and more renewable biofuels. The next chapter for advanced diesel, other ICEs, and the fuels that they might use has not yet been written. We can expect new engine architectures like opposed pistons, improvements to conventional combustion and emissions control, integration of hybrid, and electrified power systems. On the fuels side, expanded use of renewable fuels, new feedstocks as well as the potential for with new liquid e-fuels and other fuels like hydrogen are just a few examples of innovations showing significant potential for carbon and criteria emissions reductions from ICE.

The potential for achieving net-zero carbon emissions using advanced internal combustion engines more rapidly or at lower cost, deserves greater consideration.

In a recent study undertaken by Stillwater Associates for the Diesel Technology Forum, researchers evaluated environmental benefits attainable with new technology diesel engines in commercial fleet vehicles fueled with biofuels and comparable medium and heavy-duty electric vehicles (EV) from 2022 to 2032. This study found that fueling the diesel vehicles with 100% renewable diesel (RD) fuel resulted in six times larger cumulative greenhouse gas (GHG) reductions by 2032 than the EV scenarios, while B20 – a 20% blend of biodiesel with 80% petroleum diesel – provided a 30% greater cumulative GHG reduction.

New technology medium and heavy-duty diesel vehicles replacing older models provide greater reductions in particulate matter than replacing those older model diesel vehicles with medium and heavy-duty electric vehicles. Furthermore, when using 100% renewable diesel, diesels (all model-years), vehicles provide up to six times more GHG emissions reductions than medium and heavy-duty electric vehicles powered with U.S. grid average electricity.

The carbon reductions we’re achieving today from renewable fuels, particularly biodiesel and renewable diesel fuel, provide important progress in addressing climate change, while zero emissions vehicle technologies and the infrastructure to support them continue to develop and scale.

As a drop-in fuel requiring no additional investment in infrastructure, renewable diesel has delivered 28% of the greenhouse gas reductions from alternative fuels over the life of California’s Low Carbon Fuel Standard (LCFS). There is a continued role for renewable fuels in ICE in California because, until the state exceeds the statutory goals set by Senate Bill (SB) 100 of at least 60% renewable retail electricity on a continuous and reliable basis by 2030, renewable diesel fueled Class 8 trucks will continue to provide superior GHG benefits.

Due to its power density, portability, energy efficiency and low-emissions, advanced diesel and other ICE technology will continue to be the primary powerplants for trucking and many sectors of the global economy for decades to come. Further advancement in renewable and other liquid fuels for ICEs, and new gaseous ones like hydrogen, open up important new chapters for internal combustion engines.

Climate change is one of the most complex challenges we have ever faced. Trucking and other sectors need all available tools and strategies to deliver results in the near term, and long term; this includes zero emission vehicles, advanced internal combustion engines, and renewable fuels.

About the Diesel Technology Forum

The Diesel Technology Forum is a not-for-profit organization dedicated to raising awareness about the current and future role of diesel engines, equipment, and fuels. Forum members are leaders in advanced diesel technology, emissions controls, as well as petroleum-based and renewable biofuels. For more information visit http://www.dieselforum.org. READ MORE

Going electric: Opponents clash as California aims to force diesel trucks off the road (Cal Matters)

Biodiesel, renewable diesel reduce emissions in California (Biomass Magazine)

CARB heads tussle over ‘incredibly disruptive’ clean truck rule (Agri-Pulse)

Big change for big rigs: California unveils mandate to phase out diesel trucks (Cal Matters)

Diesel big rigs have belched smog for years. California may soon ban them. (Washington Post)

New Year Establishes a New Standard for Diesel Power in California’s Trucking Fleet: Truck and Bus Fleet Rule Final Compliance Date January 1, 2023 (Diesel Technology Forum)

Excerpt from Cal Matters: The California Air Resources Board held its first public hearing on rules that would ban manufacturers from selling any new fossil-fueled medium-duty and heavy-duty trucks by 2040. The new rules would also require large trucking companies to convert their fleets to electric models, buying more over time until all are zero-emission by 2042. The move is part of the state’s wider strategy to end its reliance on fossil fuels and cut planet-warming emissions.

“California is leading the transition to wide-scale electrification of trucks and buses,” said board chair Liane Randolph. “These actions can show the world how to simultaneously address the climate crisis, improve air quality and alleviate key concerns identified by communities.”

The proposed regulation received fiery criticism from both sides, as 167 members of the public lined up to speak at today’s hearing — which started at 9 a.m. and lasted well into the night.

Environmentalists and public health groups called for a tougher rule that would speed up the 100% electric truck sales requirement to 2036 instead of 2040, while trucking companies said the proposal ignores concerns about electric vehicle costs and technology, lack of infrastructure and the loss of good-paying jobs.

The Air Resources Board is expected to hold a second hearing on the proposal and vote in the spring.

Jeff Cox, a truck driver of 24 years and owner of the Madera-based trucking company Best Drayage, worries the rule could drive many family-owned fleet operators out of business – especially those with certain types of trucks that the regulation would affect first.

“Obviously we all want cleaner air, but this would be catastrophic to the industry,” he said. “We’re operating in an already challenging environment. To add something else that is this drastic would be very harmful.”

California often leads the country in passing stringent emission reduction standards. The new rule would lead to a transformation of the trucking industry, affecting about 1.8 million trucks on state roads. It builds on other mandates to reduce emissions in the transportation sector, including the gas-powered car ban adopted earlier this year and clean trucks regulation passed in 2020.

But environmental groups often say that while the air board’s regulations on the transportation industry are well-intentioned, they don’t go far enough to reduce the production or use of fossil fuels.

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But Cox, of Best Dayage, said the rule fails to consider drayage companies with daily haul ranges of 200 to 400 miles that don’t just operate at ports or railyards, such as those that transport goods within the Central Valley. Cox said the high upfront cost of electric trucks and lack of available models also worry drivers, who may not feel confident that the technology can improve before the mandate goes into effect.

“Getting the cart before the horse isn’t going to help matters by forcing the purchase of a vehicle that doesn’t exist today,” he said. “This is both impractical and impossible to comply with.”

Chris Shimoda, a senior vice president at the California Trucking Association, which represents truck drivers, said the heavy weight of electric truck batteries could force trucks to forgo around 8,000 pounds of their load capacity, increasing the need for more trucks and drivers to transport cargo at a time when the industry is already facing a worker shortage.

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Enough chargers and grid capacity?

Just 1,943 zero emission medium and heavy duty vehicles are on the state’s roads, and nearly all of them are buses. About 300 are zero-emission commercial trucks, and less than 90 are electric semi-trucks. The rule would add about 510,000 carbon- free medium and heavy-duty vehicles to roads and highways in 2035, increasing to 1.2 million in 2045 and nearly 1.6 million in 2050.

To meet that demand, Shimoda said the state would need to install as many as 800 chargers per week to power truck fleets, representing anywhere from 64 to158 megawatts of new charging capacity, or enough to power 118,000 households.

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Air board member Daniel Sperling, who is also the director of the Institute of Transportation Studies at UC Davis, echoed many of the concerns raised by the trucking industry about installing charging stations and making rapid grid improvements.

“I’m having the same whiplash experience that so many fleets have been talking about —the challenges they’re having and getting hooked up to the infrastructure,” he said. “Why are we hearing from these fleets —some of them are saying that they’re not even being given a timeline for when the infrastructure will be in place.”

Yulia Shmidt, an analyst for the Office of Ratepayer Advocates at the California Public Utilities Commission, assured the board that the agency was making significant investments in grid upgrades.

“That is certainly a concern that we are deeply thinking about and that is why we’re looking at the forecast to see where the new load may come from so that we can trigger upgrades in those areas if they’re needed,”she said.

Many truck drivers at the hearing called the proposal unfair due to the high costs of purchasing an electric truck compared to that of a traditional diesel truck.

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The proposal has different deadlines for phasing in new sales of electric models, varying based on the size and type of truck, until all are electric by 2042. In addition, the requirements for converting fleets would not apply to smaller companies that operate less than 50 trucks, unless they were using a larger company’s trucks. They could keep their trucks as long as they want under the proposal, although their new purchases would have to be zero-emission by 2040.

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A coalition of representatives from several states, including New York, Washington, Wisconsin and Connecticut, urged the board to adopt the rule and said they would move to implement it in their states too.

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In a letter to the air board, a group of state legislators, including Democratic Sens. Nancy Skinner of Berkeley and Josh Becker of Menlo Park, and Assemblymember Cristina Garcia of Bell Gardens, agreed with environmentalists.

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But in a separate statement, some legislators including Democratic Assemblymembers Blanca Rubio of Baldwin Park, Carlos Villapudua of Stockton and Rudy Salas of Bakersfield — especially those from rural areas or with high concentrations of fleet operators in their districts — sided with the trucking industry, saying the proposal is too “aggressive” and places many financial burdens on fleet operators. They also said the plan fails to address many technical challenges, such as the toll electric trucks will have on the grid as power demand grows, and the fast-charging needs of heavy-duty rental vehicles like water and dump trucks that operate in remote locations. READ MORE

Excerpt from Agri-Pulse: Several board members agreed with environmental interests on accelerating the timeline beyond the staff proposal and lowering the threshold to incorporate many small businesses. READ MORE