Twenty-one California nonprofits, local governments, transit agencies, and Native American tribal governments in under-resourced communities have been awarded up to $1 million each by the new Clean Mobility Options Voucher Pilot Program (CMO) to develop and launch zero-emission mobility projects, such as bikesharing and ride-on-demand services, aimed at overcoming transportation... Read more →

California Climate Investments—a program designed to put billions of dollars to work to reduce greenhouse gas emissions—is funded with proceeds from the State’s Cap-and-Trade GHG emissions reduction program and is administered by the California Air Resources Board (ARB). Since 2013, the California Legislature has appropriated $15.4 billion in California Climate... Read more →

The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) is investing $26 million to build infrastructure to expand the availability of higher-blend renewable biofuels by 822 million gallons annually in 23 states. USDA is making the awards under the Higher Blends Infrastructure Incentive Program. The funding will help increase the use of biofuels... Read more →

Germany’s Federal Ministry of Transport and Digital Infrastructure (BMVI) is making a total of €500 million available by the end of 2025 for the further development of the public charging infrastructure in Germany. The aim is to set up a total of at least 50,000 charging points (of which at... Read more →

Addressing climate change requires not only a clean electrical grid, but also a clean fuel to reduce emissions from industrial heat, long-haul heavy transportation, and long-duration energy storage. Hydrogen and its derivatives could be that fuel, argues a commentary by four energy researchers in the journal Joule. However, they note,... Read more →

On Wednesday, US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan issued a statement calling on OPEC+ to increase oil production: While OPEC+ recently agreed to production increases, these increases will not fully offset previous production cuts that OPEC+ imposed during the pandemic until well into 2022. At a critical moment in the... Read more →

Growth Energy, American Farm Bureau Federation, National Biodiesel Board, National Corn Growers Association, National Farmers Union, and the Renewable Fuels Association sent a letter to the US Senate Committee on Finance and the US House of Representatives Committee on Ways and Means outlining its recommendations for a sound and effective... Read more →

The California Energy Commission (CEC) announced that $12 million in rebates will be available to install publicly accessible electric vehicle (EV) charging stations in Ventura, Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo counties. The funds are part of the California Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Project (CALeVIP) that addresses regional charging needs and... Read more →

The European Commission has adopted a package of proposals to make the EU's climate, energy, land use, transport and taxation policies fit for reducing net greenhouse gas emissions by at least 55% by 2030, compared to 1990 levels (Fit for 55). The EC said that achieving these emission reductions in... Read more →

A new study focused on the auto industry finds that tightening emissions standards not only fails to curtail on-road emissions, but actually increases the likelihood of non-compliance by automakers. In a paper published in the journal Production and Operations Management, researchers confirmed the relationship between increased threshold-based regulations and non-compliance... Read more →

The Government of Canada is setting a mandatory target for all new light-duty cars and passenger trucks sales to be zero-emission by 2035, accelerating Canada’s previous goal of 100% sales by 2040. The Government of Canada will pursue a combination of investments and regulations to help Canadians and industry transition... Read more →

The European Environment Agency (EEA) has published its provisional data about the CO2 emissions of newly registered passenger cars and vans in Europe in 2020. For cars, the data show a 12% decrease in average cO2 emissions, compared with 2019. Average van emissions decreased slightly, by about 1.5 %. According... Read more →

The world should invest at least $3 trillion more every year in sustainable infrastructure and nature to drive the recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic and the transition to a zero-emissions and climate-resilient global economy over the next decade, according to a new report that was requested by the UK Prime... Read more →

If a ban were introduced on the sale of new gasoline and diesel cars, and they were replaced by electric cars, the result would be a significant reduction in lifecycle carbon dioxide emissions primarily due to reduced tailpipe CO2 emissions, according to a new lifecycle study by researchers at Chalmers... Read more →

US Congressman Brad Schneider (IL-10) introduced the Sustainable Skies Act, new legislation to promote the transition to sustainable aviation fuel. Currently, air travel accounts for as much as 2.5% of global carbon emissions. The Sustainable Skies Act aims to cut aviation’s carbon emissions in half. The bill, co-led by Reps.... Read more →

The world has a viable pathway to building a global energy sector with net-zero emissions in 2050, but it is narrow and requires an unprecedented transformation of how energy is produced, transported and used globally, according to a new special report from the International Energy Agency (IEA). Climate pledges by... Read more →

According to the ITF Transport Outlook 2021, the biennial flagship report of the International Transport Forum, a sister organization of the OECD, global transport activity will more than double by 2050, and traffic emissions will rise by 16% compared to 2015 even if existing commitments to decarbonize transport are fully... Read more →

The California Energy Commission (CEC) announced that $17.5 million is available to expand public electric vehicle (EV) charging in 13 rural counties. Incentives available through the new Inland Communities Incentive Project will cover up to 75% of EV charging equipment costs. More than a third of the funding is dedicated... Read more →

On Thursday, Washington state Governor Jay Inslee vetoed legislation that would have set the first state-legislated 2030 phaseout target for automotive combustion engines in the country. (Earlier post.) The Clean Cars 2030 package passed the legislature as an amendment to E2SHB 1287—a bill mandating electric utility preparation for an all-EV... Read more →

An additional $30 million is now available through New York State’s Drive Clean Rebate program to encourage more consumers to lease or purchase an all-electric car or plug-in hybrid electric vehicle. More than 37,000 EV rebates, totaling more than $54 million, have already been provided under the Drive Clean Rebate... Read more →

California Governor Gavin Newsom has directed the Department of Conservation’s Geologic Energy Management (CalGEM) Division to initiate regulatory action to end the issuance of new permits for hydraulic fracturing (“fracking”) by January 2024. Additionally, Governor Newsom requested that the California Air Resources Board (CARB) analyze pathways to phase out oil... Read more →

US President Joe Biden announced a new target for the United States to achieve a 50-52% reduction from 2005 levels in economy-wide net greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in 2030. According to the most recent GHG inventory from the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), US GHG emissions in 2019 (after accounting... Read more →

A team of transportation and policy experts from the University of California released a report to the California Environmental Protection Agency (CalEPA) outlining policy options to significantly reduce transportation-related fossil fuel demand and emissions. Those policy options, when combined, could lead to a zero-carbon transportation system by 2045, while also... Read more →

Truck makers and environmentalists have joined forces to push for the deployment of 11,000 charging points for electric trucks across the EU by 2025, rising to 42,000 by 2030. The European Automobile Manufacturers’ Association (ACEA) and Transport & Environment (T&E) made this call to the European Commission in a joint... Read more →

In response to strong demand for electric vehicles, the California Air Resources Board (CARB) expects rebate funds for the statewide Clean Vehicle Rebate Project (CVRP) to be exhausted within 30 days. Electric vehicles (EVs) account for nearly 8% of all light-duty vehicles sold in California. More than 145,000 EVs were... Read more →

The California Energy Commission (CEC) has approved a first-of-its-kind project to accelerate the deployment of infrastructure needed to fuel zero-emission trucks, buses and equipment. Administered by CALSTART, the EnergIIZE Commercial Vehicles (Energy Infrastructure Incentives for Zero-Emission Commercial Vehicles) project will use a concierge-like model working directly with eligible applicants to help plan and... Read more →

A study commissioned by EDF and conducted by Gladstein, Neandross and Associates (GNA) has evaluated a year’s worth of heavy-duty truck trips conducted by two national trucking companies: NFI and Schneider. Both companies have made significant efforts to start their transition to electric trucks. GNA modeled the impact of electrification... Read more →

Germany’s Federal Ministry of Transport and Digital Infrastructure has launched a new €300-million program for the construction of EV charging stations. We build the charging infrastructure where it is needed in everyday life and that is with the people “on site”—at supermarkets, hotels, restaurants, swimming pools or sports fields. We... Read more →

As part of his more than $2-trillion spending package (“The American Jobs Plan”), President Biden is proposing a $174-billion investment in the EV market in the US. Among the broad elements of the proposal are: Enabling automakers to spur domestic supply chains from raw materials to parts, retool factories to... Read more →

The California Energy Commission (CEC), California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) and California Air Resources Board (CARB) released the first joint agency report and a summary document examining how the state’s electricity system can become carbon-free by 2045. The report is the initial analysis called for in Senate Bill 100 (SB... Read more →

A new study by Zemo Partnership (formerly LowCVP) shows that with a market average of 30% high blend renewable fuels (HBRF), used in place of fossil fuels (diesel and natural gas) by 2030, the transport sector could save an additional 46m tonnes in GHG emissions over the next decade, with... Read more →

The Government of Canada plans to provide C$2.75 billion (US$2.17 billion) in funding over five years, starting in 2021, to enhance public transit systems and switch them to cleaner electrical power, including supporting the purchase of zero-emission public transit and school buses. This funding is part of an eight year,... Read more →

A recent collaborative study led by researchers from the University of Maryland (UMD) College of Agriculture and Natural Resources found that consumers tend to buy something less fuel efficient than they normally would for their second car after buying an eco-friendly vehicle. While this sounds like an all-too-logical conclusion, the... Read more →

UN Climate Change published the Initial NDC Synthesis Report, showing nations must redouble efforts and submit stronger, more ambitious national climate action plans in 2021 if they’re to achieve the Paris Agreement goal of limiting global temperature rise by 2 °C—ideally 1.5 °C—by the end of the century. The report... Read more →

Earlier this week, the State Auditor of California released a report on an audit of the California Air Resources Board’s (ARB’s) transportation programs intended to reduce greenhouse gases. (Earlier post.) The report suggested that California might not meet its GHG reduction goals for 2030, determined that CARB must do more... Read more →

As a direct result of the state’s Clean Cars 4 All program, more than 10,000 Californians have now scrapped old, dirty cars and replaced them with cleaner alternatives such as new and used zero-emission, plug-in hybrid, or hybrid cars. There is strong consumer demand for Clean Cars 4 All (CC4A)... Read more →

A report from the State Auditor of California finds that California may not successfully meet its upcoming greenhouse gas (GHG) reduction goal of 40% by 2030, which will require the State to reduce GHG emissions by nearly 40% over the next decade. Source: State Auditor Report Number: 2020-114 Although other... Read more →

The California Air Resources Board (CARB) is making additional clean vehicle rebates available for lower-income consumers. A cornerstone of CARB’s suite of EV-purchase incentives, the Clean Vehicle Rebate Project (CVRP) is the nation’s largest and longest-running EV incentive program. CVRP offers standard rebates of $1,000 to $4,500 for the purchase... Read more →

California’s current strategy of recovering a myriad of fixed costs in electricity usage rates must change as the state uses more renewable electricity to power buildings and vehicles, according to the findings from a new report from the Energy Institute at the UC Berkeley Haas School of Business and non-profit... Read more →

Researchers at Carnegie Mellon’s College of Engineering have found that with an emissions-based incentive towards electrification, ridesourcing companies such as Uber and Lyft would electrify more and cut their emissions by amounts ranging from 10% in New York to 22% in Los Angeles. In LA alone, this represents a reduction... Read more →

In a common letter, the European Automobile Manufacturers’ Association (ACEA), Transport & Environment (T&E) and the European Consumer Organization (BEUC) asked the EU climate, transport, industry and energy commissioners to use this year’s revision of the Alternative Fuels Infrastructure Directive (AFID) to require 1 million public charging points across the... Read more →

President Biden has created a new Climate Innovation Working Group as part of the National Climate Task Force to advance his commitment to launching an Advanced Research Projects Agency-Climate (ARPA-C). The working group is intended to help coordinate and strengthen federal government-wide efforts to foster affordable, game-changing technologies that can... Read more →

Eleven companies have formed Hydrogen Forward, a new coalition focused on advancing hydrogen development in the United States. The founding members—Air Liquide, Anglo American, Bloom Energy, CF Industries, Chart Industries, Cummins Inc., Hyundai, Linde, McDermott, Shell and Toyota—share a belief in the environmental and economic benefits of hydrogen technologies. These... Read more →

The Electrification Coalition has introduced its EV Policy Showroom, offering policymakers, EV advocates, industry partners and other stakeholders online access to easily navigable data and policy information on the deployment and adoption of electric vehicles and charging infrastructure. The EV Policy Showroom features databases, calculators, guidance and tools that provide... Read more →

In remarks made at the signing of his Executive Order on Strengthening American Manufacturing, President Biden said that he would replace the federal government’s fleet of vehicles with electric vehicles made in the US. Such an investment in procurement, along with hundreds of billions of dollars to be spent in... Read more →

A new study by the European Automobile Manufacturers’ Association (ACEA) has found that there are currently 6.2 million medium- and heavy-duty commercial vehicles on the EU’s roads, the average age of which is 13 years. Almost 98% of all these trucks run on diesel, according to the 2021 Vehicles in... Read more →

The governors of Massachusetts, Connecticut, and Rhode Island, and the mayor of the District of Columbia announced that theirs will be the first jurisdictions to launch a new multi-state program that the principals expect will invest some $300 million per year in cleaner transportation choices. The Transportation and Climate Initiative... Read more →

The California Air Resources Board approved $28 million in Air Quality Improvement Program (AQIP) funding to support two popular statewide incentive programs aimed at bringing the cleanest vehicle technologies to low-income and underserved communities. California’s Hybrid and Zero-Emission Truck and Bus Voucher Incentive Project (HVIP) provides incentives to purchase the... Read more →

The US Department of Transportation’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) is seeking public comment on the potential development of a framework of principles to govern the safe behavior of automated driving systems (ADS) in the future. The advance notice of proposed rulemaking (ANPRM) was submitted to the Federal Register... Read more →

A study by researchers at The Ohio State University suggests that the COVID-19 pandemic had varying effects on demand for public transit in US cities. While demand for public transit dropped about 73% across the country after the pandemic hit, the reduction didn’t impact all cities equally, according to the... Read more →