A new lifecycle analysis by researchers at Argonne National Laboratory has found that the carbon intensity of corn ethanol has decreased 23%—from 58 to 45 gCO2e/MJ—from 2005 to 2019. Their open-access paper is published in the journal Biofuels, Bioproducts and Biorefining. Carbon intensity (gCO2e/MJ undenatured ethanol) of corn ethanol without... Read more →

Each year, the California Air Resources Board (ARB) posts the Annual Crude Average carbon intensity for crude oil delivered to California refineries. In 2020, although the volume of crude supplied to refineries dropped to 476,730,992 barrels from 584,313,143 the year before, the average carbon intensity (CI) rose to 13.41 gCO2e/MJ... Read more →

Washington state governor Jay Inslee signed into law HB 1091, legislation which directs the Department of Ecology to develop a low carbon fuel standard for the state. The overall goal is to reduce the greenhouse gas emissions attributable to each unit of the fuels to 20% below 2017 levels by... Read more →

The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine’s (NASEM’s) Board on Environmental Studies and Toxicology (BEST) announced the provisional committee for a new consensus study, Current Methods for Life Cycle Analyses of Low Carbon Transportation Fuels in the United States. Low carbon fuel standards, such as the Federal Renewable Fuel... Read more →

South San Francisco Scavenger Company (SSFSC) has submitted an application to the California Air Resources Board (ARB) seeking certification of Tier 2 pathways for biomethane (Bio-CNG) from anaerobic digestion (AD) of food waste and urban landscaping waste at their facility in South San Francisco, California. The proposed carbon intensities for... Read more →

The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine is forming a committee that will conduct a study on the current methods for life cycle analyses (LCA) of low-carbon transportation fuels in the United States. Low carbon fuel standards, such as the Federal Renewable Fuel Standard and the California Low Carbon... Read more →

Summit Agricultural Group, a diversified agribusiness operator and investment manager with operations in the United States and Brazil, has created Summit Carbon Solutions (SCS), a new business platform that will develop the world’s largest carbon capture and storage (CCS) project. Expected to be operation in 2024, the Summit Carbon Solutions... Read more →

The California Air Resources Board announced a settlement with AltAir-Paramount, LLC addressing reporting violations under the Low Carbon Fuel Standard (LCFS). The settlement is valued at $132,500. AltAir produces renewable diesel and renewable jet fuel from tallow at its facility in Paramount, CA. CARB staff determined that Altair made unauthorized... Read more →

Altair Paramount, LLC (Altair) has applied for California LCFS fuel pathways for renewable diesel, renewable naphtha and renewable jet fuels derived from rendered animal fat feedstock and processed at their facility in Paramount, California. Altair sources rendered inedible animal fat from an integrated meatpacking and rendering facility owned by JBS1... Read more →

FirstElement Fuel has filed three new applications for LCFS pathways for liquid and gaseous hydrogen fuel produced from fossil natural gas and landfill gas sources with the California Air Resources Board (ARB). The carbon intensities (CI) of the pathways range from 73.14 to 153.91 gCO2e/MJ. Hydrogen produced by steam methane... Read more →

Sweden has an ambitious target of being fossil-free by 2045. As a part of the initiative, the Swedish Government announced on 11 September the introduction of a greenhouse gas (GHG) reduction mandate for aviation fuel sold in Sweden in 2021. The reduction level will be 0.8% in 2021, and gradually... Read more →

Phillips 66, a diversified energy manufacturing and logistics company, plans to reconfigure its San Francisco Refinery in Rodeo, California, to produce renewable fuels. The plant would no longer produce fuels from crude oil, but instead would make fuels from used cooking oil, fats, greases and soybean oils. The Phillips 66... Read more →

Pursuant to section 95489(c)(3)(B) of the Low Carbon Fuel Standard (LCFS) Regulation, the California Air Resources Board (CARB) Executive Officer has posted the final 2017 Crude Average Carbon Intensity calculation: 12.52 CI (gCO2e/MJ). The 2019 CI is up from 2018 (12.35) and from 2017 (11.93); volume delivered to California refineries... Read more →

Global Clean Energy Holdings, Inc., through a subsidiary, has purchased Alon Bakersfield Properties, Inc., a subsidiary of Delek US Holdings, Inc. and the owner of the Alon Bakersfield Refinery. The total cash consideration paid to Delek US Holdings for the purchase was $40 million. Alon Bakersfield Refinery is an existing... Read more →

The California Air Resources Board (CARB) Executive Officer has certified the 2020 annual update to the carbon intensities (CI) of the lookup table pathways for a) California Average Grid Electricity Used as a Transportation Fuel in California and b) Electricity Supplied under the Smart Charging or Smart Electrolysis Provision. The... Read more →

North Dakota-based Red Trail Energy (RTE), which since 2007 has operated an ethanol production facility with annual production of about 60 million gallons per year, is proposing sequestration of CO2 produced from starch fermentation to lower the overall carbon intensity of the fuel for the California Low Carbon Fuel Standard... Read more →

California’s Low Carbon Fuel Standard (LCFS) has supported an innovative revolution in alternative fuels. Those fuels have replaced more than 2.5 billion gallons of petroleum fuel in the past 12 months, providing Californians with cleaner alternatives. The California Air Resources Board has released a list of CARB-certified, third-party verifiers who... Read more →

Element Markets Renewable Energy (EMRE) has filed applications for certification of three California LCFS (Low Carbon Fuel Standard) Tier 2 pathways for biomethane (Bio-CNG, Bio-LNG, and Bio-L-CNG) from anaerobic digestion of swine manure produced by Valley View Farms located in Greencastle, Missouri. The calculated carbon intensities are -345.68, -334.41, and... Read more →

Air Liquide Hydrogen Energy is seeking California Low Carbon Fuel Standard (LCFS) certification of two pathways for gaseous hydrogen produced by steam methane reformation (SMR) produced onsite at the LAX hydrogen station, using average North American landfill gas and fossil natural gas (NA NG), respectively. The pathway for gaseous hydrogen... Read more →

Trillium, one of the US’ leading providers of alternative fuels systems and renewable fuels, is adding two new public compressed natural gas (CNG) fueling stations to its network of California locations. The alternative and renewable fuel provider designed and built CNG stations at two Love’s Travel Stops located in Lost... Read more →

The California Air Resources Board (ARB) has recently posted six Low Carbon Fuel Standard (LCFS) Tier 2 pathways applications for the production of liquefied hydrogen from renewable and fossil gas. Shell Energy North America seeks certification of a renewable hydrogen pathway produced by steam methane reformation at Air Products &... Read more →

Diamond Green Diesel Holdings LLC (DGD) has filed an application with the California Air Resources Board (ARB) seeking carbon intensity (CI) certification for the Low Carbon Fuel Standard (LCFS) of renewable diesel (RD) pathways from distillers corn oil; rendered animal fat; and used cooking oil (UCO) at the Diamond Green... Read more →

The California Air Resources Board (CARB) has approved a new temporary fuel pathway for Alternative Jet Fuel. A fuel-reporting entity approved for use of this pathway may report quantities of fuel to generate credits effective Q2, 2019 and subsequent quarters. Alternative jet fuel is defined as a drop-in fuel, made... Read more →

The California Air Resources Board (ARB) has proposed carbon intensity (CI) values for a new Temporary LCFS pathway for Alternative Jet Fuel. Public comments on the proposed new Temporary pathway are being accepted through 16 September prior to certification. Upon certification, this new Temporary pathway will be available for LRT-CBTS... Read more →

The California Air Resources Board (ARB) announced a $1.36-million settlement with Tesoro Refining & Marketing, LLC for violating the Low Carbon Fuel Standard (LCFS). The LCFS requires that regulated fuel producers report the carbon generated in the production of transportation fuels sold in California. In this case, the company misreported... Read more →

New 2018 data from the California Air Resources Board (CARB) indicates that the state’s Low Carbon Fuel Standard (LCFS) continues to drive production of a growing volume of cleaner transportation fuels for California consumers. To date almost 3.3 billion gallons of petroleum diesel have been displaced by clean, low-carbon alternatives.... Read more →

Southern California Gas Co. (SoCalGas) will lower the price of compressed natural gas at all of its 13 public access natural gas vehicle fueling stations by $0.26 per gallon beginning 1 April. Through a California Public Utilities Commission approved program, the utility is able to offer a reduced price by... Read more →

Available clean fuels for the state of Washington could meet a 2028 target of 11.2% reduction in average carbon intensity by 2028, according to an analysis completed by independent research firm Cerulogy and commissioned by the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS). The largest fuel pathways used to meet this target... Read more →

Aemetis subsidiary Aemetis Biogas LLC closed a $30-million equity investment without any dilutive stock issuances by Aemetis, Inc. and funded the first $8.3-million tranche to subsidiary Aemetis Biogas to build, own and operate dairy biomethane digesters, pipelines and gas cleanup/compression facilities primarily under 20-year agreements with dairy farms in California.... Read more →

AltAir Paramount LLC has filed a California LCFS Tier 2 application for converting North American tallow to renewable naphtha; the company calculates a carbon intensity of 39.75 gCO2e/MJ. AltAir operates a Renewable Diesel (RD) plant in Paramount, California, which produces RD and Renewable Naphtha (RN) using a mixture of animal... Read more →

Finland-based Neste has submitted three new Tier 2 Pathways for California’s Low Carbon Fuel Standard (LCFS) for renewable diesel produced at its Porvoo, Finland refinery. Two pathways are for Renewable Diesel from Tallow & Animal Fat and one is for Renewable Diesel from Used Cooking Oil (UCO). Neste already has... Read more →

CR&R Incorporated / California Renewable Power LLC (CR&R) has submitted a California LCFS Tier 2 application for its biomethane from anaerobic digestion of green waste to CNG pathway, with a requested carbon intensity (CI) of 0.34 gCO2e/MJ. The CR&R facility produces biomethane from an organic waste anaerobic digester (AD) facility... Read more →

Renewable diesel net supply to California’s fuel market has increased since the state’s Low Carbon Fuel Standard (LCFS) program went into effect in 2011, reaching 100 million gallons during the second quarter of 2018, or 10.1% of the total diesel supplied to California that quarter, according to the US Energy... Read more →

The California Air Resources Board (CARB) voted to extend the Low Carbon Fuel Standard (LCFS) by ten years to 2030 and to double the program’s carbon intensity reductions target from 10 to 20 percent. Under the LCFS, petroleum refineries and fuel importers must gradually reduce the average carbon intensity of... Read more →

The 2017 Compliance Report for the Low Carbon Fuel Standard (LCFS) shows 100% compliance with the regulation. The program considers greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions at all stages of production of a fuel, from pump or field to wheel. It was originally developed to support a return to 1990 levels of... Read more →

Three energy companies have agreed to fines totaling $785,000 following investigations by the California Air Resources Board (CARB). All three companies violated provisions of the Low Carbon Fuel Standard (LCFS). SK Energy Americas agreed to a $395,000 penalty for failure to meet the carbon intensity target for 2014. Alon USA... Read more →

California can reduce carbon emissions by more than 70 million metric tons by 2030—akin to taking 15 million gasoline-powered cars off the road in one year—by adopting a higher target for its Low Carbon Fuel Standard (LCFS), according to an analysis released by the UK-based research firm Cerulogy. The analysis... Read more →

As California policymakers consider options to extend the state’s landmark climate change laws to 2030 and beyond, 155 businesses and industry groups sent a letter to California Governor Jerry Brown, Senate President pro Tempore Kevin de León, and Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon in support of the California Low Carbon Fuel... Read more →

The California Air Resources Board (ARB) Low Carbon Fuel Standard (LCFS) staff has released for public comment four new Tier 2 renewable diesel (RD) pathways using soy oil, used cooking oil, tallow, and corn oil at the Diamond Green facility in St. Charles, Louisiana. Diamond Green Diesel (DGD) uses the... Read more →

The California Air Resources Board (ARB) released the proposed scoping plan to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 40% below 1990 levels by 2030—the most ambitious target in North America. (Earlier post.) The plan builds on the state’s efforts to reduce emissions and outlines the most effective ways to reach the... Read more →

The Government of Canada will consult with provinces and territories, Indigenous peoples, industries, and non-governmental organizations to develop a clean fuel standard. The standard would require reductions in the carbon footprint of the fuels supplied in Canada, based on lifecycle analysis. The overall objective of a clean fuel standard would... Read more →

The government of British Columbia recently unveiled its Climate Leadership Plan, targeting the reduction of net annual greenhouse gas emissions by up to 25 million tonnes below current forecasts by 2050 and the creation of up to 66,000 jobs over the next ten years. BC’s target is to reduce 2050... Read more →

A new CALSTART brief indicates that California’s climate and energy policies are not only helping to protect the environment and improve air quality, but are also helping to accelerate growth of the clean transportation technology industry (CTTI) in the state. The paper, “California’s Clean Transportation Technology Industry: Time to Shift... Read more →

Global companies are partnering with the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD), Roundtable for Sustainable Biomaterials (RSB) and Sustainable Energy for All (SE4ALL) in a new global initiative called below50, to promote the best-of-breed of sustainable fuels that can achieve significant carbon reductions, and to scale-up their development and... Read more →

The California Air Resources Board’s report on the state of the Low Carbon Fuel Standard (LCFS) program for the compliance year 2015 indicates a compliance rate of 98%, with a total of 5.49 million credits generated in the year. These credits are roughly the same as removing 1 million cars... Read more →

Canada’s Globe and Mail reports that as part of a more C$7-billion (US$5.4-billion), 4-year climate change plan, the Ontario government will invest C$285 million (US$221 million) in electric vehicle incentives; implement lower carbon fuel standards; and invest C$280 million (US$217 million) to help school boards buy electric buses and trucking... Read more →

The staff of the California Air Resources Board (ARB) released the first full set of carbon intensity (CI) pathways certified under the readopted LCFS regulation using the CA-GREET 2.0 model. (Earlier post.) These pathways include both new applications and requests to have “legacy” pathways (adopted under the prior LCFS rule)... Read more →

Tesoro Corporation plans to foster the development of biocrude, made from renewable biomass, which can be co-processed in its existing refineries along with conventional fossil crude oil to produce lower-carbon drop-in fuels. Tesoro expects that converting renewable biomass into biocrude will enable existing refining assets to produce fuels with lower... Read more →

California Air Resources Board (ARB) staff posted 32 new Low Carbon Fuel Standard (LCFS) fuel pathway applications for comments at the LCFS website. Among the multiple applications for different processing pathways of corn or sorghum ethanol are four pathways from LytEn for hydrogen produced from biomethane; four pathways for renewable... Read more →

AC Transit (Alameda-Contra Costa Transit District), which operates the third-largest public bus system in California, has filed a fuel pathway application for gaseous hydrogen produced via electrolysis powered by renewable electricity (solar) with the California Air Resources Board (ARB) under the Low Carbon Fuel Standard (LCFS) regulation. According to AC... Read more →