California Air Board Approves Low Carbon Fuel Standard

The standard is designed to reduce carbon emissions from California's transportation fuels by 10 percent by 2020 by diversifying the variety of fuels used to power vehicles.

By 2020, application of the standard is expected to replace 20 percent of the petroleum fuels burned by cars in California with cleaner alternative fuels.

This Kia Sportage FCEV fuel cell electric vehicle was displayed at the 2008 conference of the National Hydrogen Association in Sacramento, California. (Photo by Keith Wipke courtesy NREL)

"The new standard means we can begin to break our century-old dependence on petroleum and provide California with greater energy security," said Air Resources Board Chairman Mary Nichols after the vote in Sacramento.

Transportation is the largest source of global warming emissions in California, responsible for 38 percent of the state's greenhouse gas emissions.

"The drive to force the market toward greater use of alternative fuels will be a boon to the state's economy and public health," Nichols said. "It reduces air pollution, creates new jobs and continues California's leadership in the fight against global warming."

This is the first regulation in the United States addressing the global warming impact of transportation fuels. The regulation is expected to be a model for similar efforts at the state and federal levels.

Trisha Murakawa, board chair of the American Lung Association in California, says the regulation will help the state kick its petroleum addiction and move to a cleaner, more sustainable transportation system. "We support the California Air Resources Board's leadership in developing the LCFS rule and believe this groundbreaking rule is a key step in the fight against global warming pollution and over-dependence on polluting petroleum fuels," she said.

Governor Schwarzenegger issued the executive order requiring a Low Carbon Fuel Standard in early 2007. It directed the state to drive down greenhouse gas emissions from the transportation sector, which accounts for 40 percent of the state's total greenhouse gas emissions.

The standard is the most important early action called for under AB 32, the state's Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006.

The regulation will boost the market for alternative fuel vehicles and achieve 16 million metric tons of greenhouse gas emission reductions by 2020, said Nichols.

Kevin Czinger, chief executive of Miles Electric Vehicles based in Santa Monica, applauded the move, calling it a "non-preferential, scientific approach at reducing the transportation sector's carbon emissions."

"By regulating the life-cycle emissions of fuels sold in-state, the governor's Low Carbon Fuel Standard will further position California as a leader in the fight against carbon emissions and further motivate manufacturers to produce low carbon footprint, alternative fuel vehicles," said Czinger.

According to ARB analyses, to produce the more than 1.5 billion gallons of biofuels needed, more than 25 new biofuel facilities will have to be built and will create more than 3,000 new jobs, mostly in the state's rural areas. Production of fuels within the state will also keep consumer dollars local by reducing the need to make fuel purchases from beyond its borders.

The regulation requires providers, refiners, importers and blenders to ensure that the fuels they provide for the California market meet an average declining standard of "carbon intensity."

This is established by determining the sum of greenhouse gas emissions associated with the production, transportation and consumption of a fuel, also referred to as the fuel pathway.

Economic mechanisms will allow the market to choose the most cost-effective clean fuels, those with the lowest carbon intensity, giving California consumers the widest variety of fuel options.

Seeking to enhance private sector and federal investment into alternative fuel production and distribution, California is providing funding to assist in the early development and deployment of the most promising low-carbon fuels.

The Alternative and Renewable Fuel and Vehicle Technology Program, managed by the California Energy Commission, will provide some $120 million dollars per year over seven years to deploy the cleanest fuels and vehicles.

Regulators expect the new generation of fuels to come from the development of technology that uses algae, wood, agricultural waste such as straw, common invasive weeds such as switchgrass, and even from municipal solid waste.

The standard is also expected to drive the availability of plug-in hybrid, battery electric and fuel-cell powered cars while promoting investment in electric charging stations and hydrogen fueling stations.

Under the regulation approved today, the Air Resources Board will continue to work on calculations for carbon intensity values. The Board committed to an investigation, to include input from outside expert groups and be completed by the end of 2009, to evaluate land use and other indirect effects of all transportation fuels.

The Renewable Fuels Association President and CEO Bob Dinneen said the Board's decision was premature, but said he "remains confident that the formation of the expert work group will result in a more balanced and fair assessment of the indirect greenhouse gas effects of all fuels."

"This standard is based on flawed analysis and selectively enforced penalties against biofuels only. In unfairly penalizing ethanol, ARB is relegating California to more petroleum use as biofuels are the only viable alternative liquid fuel," Dinneen said.

National Farmers Union President Roger Johnson too said the Board's "scientifically dubious interpretation of international indirect land use change is an unnecessary setback to reducing our dependence on fossil fuels."

"There is currently no clear scientific understanding of international indirect land use impacts," Johnson said. "Until there is better scientific certainty, and analysis accounts for all fuels including petroleum and natural gas, the inclusion of indirect effects should be delayed."

"Ethanol production has a proven track record of providing real 'green jobs' in our rural communities, jump-starting the local economy," said Johnson. "Furthermore, improved technology is increasing ethanol plant efficiency and paving the way for the next generation of renewable fuels."

The Brazilian Sugarcane Industry Association sees an opportunity to sell sugarcane ethanol to the California market created by the new regulation. Following the vote in Sacramento, the Brazilian association's President and CEO Marcos Jank said, "The verifiable 90 percent greenhouse gas reduction delivered by sugarcane ethanol provides a source of low carbon fuel that achieves the goals of California's ambitious regulation, with room to spare."

Copyright Environment News Service (ENS) 2009. All rights reserved.