More States Follow California’s Lead with Low Carbon Fuel Standard Programs

by Cliff Gladstein (ACT News/GNA) ... Following the example of California and other West Coast states and provinces, more and more states across the nation are considering the development of their own low carbon fuel programs. One of the most recent advances is in the state of New York. On February 8^th, also with the help of the RNGC (Renewable Natural Gas Coalition), Assemblywoman Carrie Woerner (D – Saratoga Springs) introduced Assembly Bill 5262, which would establish a low carbon fuel standard in New York. The new LCFS for New York is intended to reduce the greenhouse gas emissions from the transportation sector by 20% by 2030. As of this writing, the bill is still pending in the Assembly Environmental Conservation Committee. Should the bill pass the legislature and be signed into law, the State’s Department of Environmental Conservation will be required to develop the regulations and enforcement mechanisms needed to implement the LCFS.

Even some of the states in the farm belt are exploring developing their own low carbon fuel program. “Believe it or not,” said Renewable Fuels Association President and CEO Geoff Cooper at the National Ethanol Conference in Orlando on February 12th, “there are conversations starting in the Midwest about a low carbon fuel program similar in nature to what we see on the West Coast.[1]” Under the coordination of the Great Plains Institute, Minnesota, Iowa and South Dakota are some of the states believed to be considering participation in a low carbon fuel program that will be tailored for the needs of Midwestern states.

Although states have been the incubators for the clean fuel program revolution, countries are also evaluating the mechanism to lower the carbon footprint of their transportation systems by compelling fuel providers to lower the carbon content of the fuels they sell to motor vehicle operators. Most notable is what is being developed by Canada. The Clean Fuel Standard program that is being developed by Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC, Canada’s federal equivalent of USEPA) seeks 30 million metric tonnes of carbon reductions from the county’s energy economy by 2030, and will actually cover liquid, gaseous and solid fuels used throughout society. The draft regulations governing carbon reduction in liquid fuels, however, is scheduled to be published this Spring 2019, be finalized in 2020, and be enforced beginning in 2022. The “design paper” for the Clean Fuel Standard was released by ECCC, on December 18, 2018, and it included concepts for obligated parties to be able to meet their compliance requirements by reducing the carbon content of fossil transportation fuels, securing credits from the purchase and use of low carbon alternative fuels in Canada, and by “fuel switching” (converting conventional fuel consumers to a lower carbon fuel, such as natural gas, hydrogen or electricity).

The development of all of these new low carbon fuel programs is essential if we are to find cost effective ways to transition our transportation system away from carbon-intense fossil fuels. In order for the programs to actually substitute low carbon fuels for gasoline and diesel, there must be motor vehicles to consume the low carbon fuels. Whether these are EVs, NGVs, or FCEVs, society must encourage increased purchase of clean vehicles that are fueled by low carbon fuels. If alternative fuel or electric vehicles are not available to purchase and use the fuel, then credits cannot be generated. Thus, in order to ensure the success of low carbon fuel programs, more needs to be done to help consumers, whether they are individual owners or fleet operators, buy the vehicles that are fueled by low carbon fuels. No matter which alternative fuel one favors, the common denominator is that the number of vehicles that can consume climate-friendly fuels must grow. READ MORE