Advanced BioFuels USA

by Floyd Vergara (National Biodiesel Board/Advanced Clean Tech News)  … However, while other viable solutions are still being developed, biomass-based diesel fuels such as biodiesel and renewable diesel are already delivering both emissions reductions and public health benefits today and will continue to do so well into the future.

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However, many California residents believe the state’s laser focus on climate change has come at the cost of its original mission — protecting the health of its citizens. As someone who has been dedicated to improving air quality and reducing carbon throughout my career, I believe strongly it doesn’t have to be one or the other. In addition to pursuing long-term decarbonization strategies like deep electrification, California, and indeed the rest of the nation, should employ drop-in solutions now that can immediately improve the health of its citizens — particularly those in historically disadvantaged communities. Increasing the use of biodiesel and renewable diesel would help accomplish this important goal sooner versus later.

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As the concept of Environmental Justice began to emerge, I visited many disadvantaged communities hit disproportionately hard by emissions — such as those surrounding the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach — and it wasn’t hard for me to relate.

Environmental justice (EJ) represents a paradigm shift in governance, reflecting a growing recognition that the benefits of efforts like decarbonization have not been applied equally. We have communities historically over-burdened with environmental problems, with many located near pollution sources. Environmental Justice is about leveling the playing field and reducing the burden for those communities.

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Pollution is literally a life-or-death situation, and it is not just an issue in the ports. Yet residents of disadvantaged communities are told by the state to just wait. Electrification is coming, they hear. But when you look at the largest tractor-trailer trucks our economy so relies on, currently 97% of those trucks are powered by diesel engines. Even CARB estimates no more than about 20% of those would be electrified by 2040.

The good news is that there are other tangible solutions readily available now, not years or decades away. Take biodiesel and renewable diesel, for example. Under the Low Carbon Fuel Standard, California has already begun to embrace these diesel replacements, which play a critical role in our climate effort. Made from an increasingly diverse mix of resources such as recycled cooking oil, plant oils, and animal fats, biodiesel and renewable diesel are better, cleaner fuels that are available now for use in existing diesel engines, and they make up almost half of our LCFS carbon reductions. That’s the equivalent to removing 1 million vehicles off the road.

These advanced fuels are not simply good for addressing climate change; they also improve local community health. A new study from Trinity Consultants demonstrates that switching to biodiesel results in an array of health benefits at the neighborhood level, including decreased cancer risk, fewer premature deaths and reduced asthma attacks.

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With states increasingly focusing on electrification as a primary strategy for decarbonization, this study shows the importance of a holistic decarbonization plan that includes other low carbon alternatives. The LCFS has garnered a high degree of success, largely with the help of biodiesel and renewable diesel replacing more diesel fuel in the state of California. On average, these fuels comprised 24% of each gallon of diesel fuel consumed in 2020 in California. But we can do even more to help hard-hit communities in California and across the nation. States should engage all available instruments to max out the amount of biodiesel and renewable diesel they can use, especially in Environmental Justice communities.   READ MORE