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[Due to the increasing size of the archives, each topic page now contains only the prior 365 days of content. Access to older stories is now solely through the Monthly Archive pages or the site search function.]
ICF report finds California Low Carbon Fuel Standard can be achieved with modest changes in diversity of fuels
June 13, 2013
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| Annual balance of LCFS credits and deficits for Scenario 1. Each colored stacked bar represents credits generated via low carbon fuels; the red line represents the deficits from forecasted CARBOB and ultra low sulfur diesel (ULSD) consumption. Click to enlarge. |
The requirements of the California Low Carbon Fuel Standard (LCFS) can be achieved through modest changes in the diversity of transportation fuels supplied to California, according to a report of the first phase of a two-phase, year-long project assessing the economic and environmental impacts of compliance with California’s LCFS out to 2020. This first phase focused on the development of compliance scenarios based on market research, consultation with stakeholders, and market forecasts based on best estimates of fuel availability.
The LCFS requires a 10% reduction in the carbon intensity (in gCO2e/MJ) of transportation fuels by 2020, as measured on a lifecycle basis. The report, “California’s Low Carbon Fuel Standard: Compliance Outlook for 2020” was prepared by consultancy ICF International for CalETC (California Electric Transportation Coalition), in partnership with the California Natural Gas Vehicle Coalition, the National Biodiesel Board (NBB), the Advanced Biofuels Association (ABFA), Environmental Entrepreneurs (E2), and Ceres.
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Latest status report finds California fuel providers continue pacing ahead of requirements of Low Carbon Fuel Standard; sufficient credits to meet full 2013 obligation
May 01, 2013
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| Continued LCFS compliance will require continued reductions in CIs. Net credits generated is the number of credits or deficits generated in each period; banked credits after compliance is the number of excess credits banked from the current or previous compliance years. Source: Yeh et al. Click to enlarge. |
According to the latest status report on the progress of California’s Low Carbon Fuel Standard (CA-LCFS) (earlier post), regulated parties in the LCFS—oil producers, importers and other fuel providers—continued to exceed the required reductions in carbon intensity specified by the standard. (Earlier post.)
Companies achieve LCFS compliance when credits equal deficits. According to the new report, from 2011 through Q4 2012, cumulative credits generated under the LCFS total 2,835,662 metric tons of CO2e, while cumulative deficits total 1,550,698 metric tons CO2e, for a net excess of 1.285 million credits (metric tons of CO2e). If all are available for use, the bank of excess credits represents about half of what is needed to cover the 2013 obligation.
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California ARB considering four new low-carbon fuel pathways; Neste renewable diesel and sugarcane molasses ethanol
March 20, 2013
California Air Resources Board (ARB) staff has posted four new Low Carbon Fuel Standard (LCFS) pathways to the LCFS web site. (Earlier post.) Among the new pathways to be considered is the production of renewable diesel from Australian tallow at Neste Oil’s Singapore plant. Others are sugarcane molasses ethanol from Guatemala; mixed feedstock to biodiesel from Texas; and a new ARB-staff-developed pathway for North American landfill gas.
The Low Carbon Fuel Standard, approved in April 2009, requires that suppliers of transportation fuels meet an average declining standard of carbon intensity (CI) —expressed in grams of CO2 equivalent per megajoule of fuel energy (g CO2e/MJ)—that will provide a 10% reduction in greenhouse-gas emissions for all fuels used in California by 2020. The CI of a fuel is determined by the sum of all greenhouse gas emissions associated with the production, transportation, processing and consumption of a fuel (its pathway).
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First status review of California LCFS finds regulated parties exceeding the standard; compliance production cost about 0.1 cents/gallon
November 20, 2012
A status review of California’s Low Carbon Fuel Standard (LCFS) (earlier post) for the period of 2011 and the first quarter of 2012 by Dr. Sonia Yeh at the Institute of Transportation Studies, UC Davis and Julie Witcover found that regulated parties in the LCFS—i.e., oil producers and importers to California—exceeded the standard in 2011 and the first quarter (Q1) of 2012 by a substantial margin.
The report, the first in a series of periodic status reports of the LCFS, found that regulated parties generated 1.58 million credits (tonnes CO2e reduction) in the first 15 months, nearly double the amount of deficits (0.78 million), for a net surplus of 0.80 million credits to exceed the required reduction level by about 0.8 million tonnes CO2e. Companies relied on ethanol to generate 86% of the credits.
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ICCT-ClimateWorks: well-designed vehicle standards and fuel feeds could reduce combined US, China and EU CO2 emissions by 1.3 Gt in 2030, boost economy
July 29, 2012
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| Vehicle efficiency improvements via effective standards and policies could reduce annual CO2 e emissions from the US, China, and the EU by 1.3 Gt at a savings of about $135 billion per year by 2030. Source: McKinsey & Co., ICCT-ClimateWorks. Click to enlarge. |
The US, China, and the EU could reduce their combined annual CO2 emissions by 1.3 Gt in 2030 by implementing well-designed vehicle performance standards and fuel fees, according to a new analysis by a team from the International Council on Clean Transportation (ICCT) and the ClimateWorks Foundation.
Cumulative CO2reductions from 2010 through 2030 would total almost 10 Gt, with a cumulative net savings of $800 billion to $1.5 trillion over the same period, according to the recently published paper, “How Vehicle Standards and Fuel Fees Can Cut CO2 Emissions and Boost the Economy” The study is the second installment of the ClimateWorks “Policies That Work” series.
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National Low Carbon Fuel Standard study releases major Technical Analysis and Policy Design reports; providing a scientific basis for policy decisions
July 19, 2012
The National Low Carbon Fuel Standard (LCFS) Project has released two major reports that synthesize its findings from the past several years of work: a Technical Analysis Report (TAR) and Policy Design Recommendations.
The primary objectives of the National Low Carbon Fuel Standard (LCFS) Study were to (1) compare an LCFS with other policy instruments, including the existing Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS2) and a potential carbon tax, that have the potential to significantly reduce transportation greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from fuel use; and (2) propose a policy structure for an LCFS that would be implementable, cost effective, and provide maximum economic gains to the consumers and the society.
