Keep the Tailpipe, Lose the Carbon
by Keith Reid (Fuels Market News) LEADING FUELS-FOCUSED GROUPS SEE ALTERNATIVE FUELS AS KEY PLAYERS IN A NET-ZERO ENVIRONMENT. … From international political centers to state governments, there seems to be a rush to not only work toward low-carbon goals but to ban internal combustion engine vehicles (ICEVs).
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Meanwhile, the traditional fuels industry prefers that carbon goals be met with as many effective options as possible, including environmentally appropriate liquid fuels and gas products. This approach goes beyond supporting traditional member needs—it appears far more practical as well.
EVs will certainly achieve notable market penetration as the years pass, with estimates from Bloomberg that 27% of vehicles on the road in 2040 will be EVs. However, an EV-dominant transportation policy beyond that in either scope or timeframe is enormously challenging. EVs themselves are not environmentally pure from the production of the batteries to the sources of electric generation to charge them. Nor have consumers or fleet operators had a full say in the technology, as the accompanying functional and financial impacts and cultural shifts have yet to materialize in direct, real-world ways.
With that in mind, here is how some of the leading fuels-focused organizations see their solutions’ place at the table in a technology-neutral, low-carbon environment. We excluded hydrogen for this go-around, as that fuel is seen as aligning with EVs for the commercial side.
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Internal combustion engine vehicles are about 99% cleaner for most tailpipe emissions compared to vehicles in 1970, and studies show that ICEVs and EVs produce comparable emissions on a life-cycle basis.
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Ethanol can and should play a central role in the effort to achieve net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050, and “net-zero” ethanol is on the way.
According to a recent life-cycle analysis, the Renewable Fuel Standard has resulted in significant GHG reductions, with cumulative CO2 savings of 980 million metric tons since 2008. These GHG reductions are due to the greater than expected savings from ethanol and other biofuels.
The Biden Administration has made it clear that low-carbon renewable fuels like ethanol have a role to play, and we’ve seen support from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in several ways, especially with its attitude toward the Renewable Fuel Standard and small refinery exemptions. The fact that the EPA switched its position on the 10th Circuit Court decision limiting SREs is telling, as well as its commitment to more transparency in the waiver process.
Likewise, President Biden’s plan for re-entering the Paris Agreement includes low-carbon renewable fuels as a strategy for helping to achieve a 50-52% economy-wide reduction in net greenhouse gas pollution by 2030.
On the policy side, we work across party lines to promote legislation that recognizes the important role low-carbon ethanol can play in a net-zero future. We see the Renewable Fuel Standard as the one existing framework that has done the best in reducing GHG emissions, and we were the lead petitioner in the 10th Circuit decision against EPA to ensure the RFS would be protected from wholesale exemptions. Above and beyond the RFS, we have supported a proposed low-carbon fuel standard, like the one that has been in place in California for 10 years.
On the research side, the Renewable Fuels Association has supported research like the study noted above, tracking ethanol’s greenhouse gas reductions since the Renewable Fuel Standard was first implemented.
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Further, the use of biobased diesel fuels, which include biodiesel and renewable diesel fuel, can greatly reduce greenhouse gas emissions today, as is proven in California where biodiesel and renewable diesel fuel used in diesel vehicles reduced more than three times the greenhouse gas emissions as did electric vehicles.
Research also shows that in 11 Northeastern states, a switch to using biodiesel or renewable diesel fuels would reduce between three and 17 times as much greenhouse gas emissions than the planned introduction and uptake of zero-emissions trucks from 2020–30.
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We need to approach solving this climate change challenge as one that is so big and complex that it will take many solutions, and that includes gas and diesel improving from today and continuing to be a part of the mix, along with renewable fuels and these future technologies as they come online.
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Made from a variety of sources such as oilseed co-products, animal fats and recycled cooking oil, biodiesel and renewable diesel are some of the most sustainable and environmentally friendly fuels on the planet.
A study by the U.S. Department of Energy demonstrates that the fuels reduce carbon emissions by an average of 74%. While reducing greenhouse gases helps us with our long-term climate goals, another recent study conducted by Trinity Consultants looked at the health benefits of switching to 100% biodiesel in the transportation and home heating oil sectors for 13 U.S. communities. The study found switching to biodiesel would lead to 340 fewer premature deaths, 46,000 fewer sick days and $3 billion in avoided health-care costs. Since the study examined the effect on just 13 communities, the results are truly the tip of the iceberg.
The conversation in Washington, D.C., and in statehouses is focused on reducing carbon emissions, and we continue to spread the word about the benefits of biodiesel and renewable diesel. We want policymakers to understand that our homegrown fuels are a drop-in solution that lower carbon today—not years or decades from now. And, at the same time, our fuels support domestic fuel security and are creating thousands of U.S. jobs.
As the national trade association representing the biodiesel and renewable diesel industry, we have a multiprong approach to educate the public and policymakers on the benefits our fuels offer. Our federal affairs team is in close contact with congressmembers and their staff, as well as regulators. Our state team helps to support new fuel standards like the ones passed earlier this year in Washington, New York, Connecticut and Rhode Island. At the same time, our technical and environmental science teams ensure that we stay on top of the latest industry developments. Most importantly, our members—farmers, fuel producers and others—hail from nearly every U.S. state and help to educate their friends, neighbors and customers about the many benefits of our fuels.
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When fueled by renewable natural gas recovered from landfills, wastewater treatment facilities and food and agricultural waste digesters, these trucks and buses deliver carbon neutral or carbon negative emissions in even the most specialized real-world applications.
The latest data from California’s Low Carbon Fuel Standard program demonstrates how clean and low carbon these heavy-duty, high-fuel-use vehicles truly are. For the first time ever, last year California fleets fueled with bio-CNG were carbon negative, based on an annual average carbon intensity score of -5.845 gCO2e/MJ.
California’s RNG mix is increasingly decarbonizing. According to California Air Resources Board data, the average carbon intensity of bio-CNG sold in California in the fourth quarter of 2020 alone was -26.11, making renewable natural gas the lowest of any in use motor fuel, including fully renewable electric from wind or solar. READ MORE
API president warns against foreign energy dependence (Houston Chronicle)
