California Regulators Approve World's First Low Carbon Fuels Standard
By John O'Dell April 24, 2009Rule is Part of State's Controversial Greenhouse Gas Regulation Plan
By John O'Dell, Senior Editor
Despite an intense lobbying campaign from biofuel manufacturers, particularly in the ethanol industry, California's top air quality regulator approved the nation's first low-carbon fuel regulations Thursday, launching a plan that will require the carbon content of fuels used in the state to be reduced by10 percent by 2020.
The California Air Resources Board voted 9-1 to approve the new rule, which is likely to take months - or more - to fully implement and could well be subject to lengthy litigation by opponents who see it as biased against ethanol.
It is part of the state's effort to reduce greenhouse gas emissions originating in California by 25 percent and is designed to encourage use of low- and no-carbon fuels such as natural gas, hydrogen and electricity and to slash use of gasoline for transportation in the state during the coming decade.
The measure also contains controversial (particularly to the ethanol industry) language that requires biofuels to be assessed not only on the carbon content of the fuel but the impact transporting the fuel and cultivating land for growing the fuels' feedstock - even in foreign countries - might have on total carbon output associated with the fuel.
Neither petroleum nor any of the other alternative fuels is subject to the same land-use analysis.
Other States To Follow
As with the state's more controversial bid to regulate automotive tailpipe emissions of greenhouse gases - typically done by increasing fuel economy to reduce the amount of carbon-based fuel burned per mile traveled - the measure is now likely to be adopted by as many as16 other states that have opted, under federal law, to follow California's emissions regulations rather than the more-lenient federal standards.
The auto and fuel industries believe that allowing some states to impose one set of rules while others follow a different set will impose incredible financial and logistic hardships on them at a time the economy is already severely depressed.
The state's regulation could be short-lived, as President Obama has called for a national low carbon fuels standard to be established.
His Environmental Protection Agency Administrator, Lisa Jackson, also has recently set the wheels in motion for a national tailpipe emissions standard for greenhouse gases.
In both cases, it is likely that California's tough policies, which Obama a praised during his campaign, will be the blueprint. And that could make California's rules moot.
Opponents See Bad Science
Opponents of the CARB's special treatment of biofuels haven't been limited to corn-based ethanol proponents.
A group of 111 scientists from a variety of academic and national research laboratories recently wrote to CARB chairwoman Mary Nichols protesting the way the carbon-counting rules have been drafted.
"We're basically talking about increasing the carbon score of some alternative fuels by 40-200 percent based on dubious economic modeling that is nowhere near ready for prime time, and then to add insult to injury they are not doing the same economic analysis on other eligible fuels in the program or [on] petroleum," the letter's lead signatory, Blake Simmons of the Sandia National Laboratory, said in a statement issued with the April 20 letter.
He called CARB's decision "indefensible from either a scientific or public policy perspective."
After listening to hours of testimony from biofuels producers Thursday, the California air board declined to change its approach but said it would revisit the land use and other indirect impact measurement requirements in 2015.
Environmentalists Applaud
The final vote drew applause from environmental groups such as the Environmental Defense Fund.
In a statement released after Thursday's action, EDF attorney Tim O'Conner said the rule, "once implemented, can dramatically reduce the environmental impact of transportation...California will usher in widespread use of low carbon fuels that drive innovation and commercialization in new fuel production technology, vehicle designs and new and expanded [alternative] fueling infrastructure."
His comments were echoed earlier in the evening by California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, a Republican who has broken with many GOP leaders in his support of tough air quality standards for his state.
The rules, many still to be developed, will be implemented beginning January 1, 2010, with the amount of fuel consumed in the state that year to be the baseline for measuring the amount of low carbon fuel that must be added to the state's transportation fuels mix by 2020.
Schwarzenegger issued the executive order requiring a statewide low carbon fuel standard (LCFS) more than two years ago.
More Juice, Less Gas
He wants the state to use alternative fuels, including environmentally sensitive biofuels, electricity and hydrogen, to replace 20 percent of the fuel used by cars operating in California.
The newly approved LCFS says that producers, refiners, importers and blenders of fuels sold in California must meet an average declining carbon-content standard each year until 2020. The carbon content is to be measured by determining total greenhouse gas emissions from the production, shipping and use of the various fuels
CARB researchers have said they believe more than two dozen new biofuels refineries will have to be built to produce more than 1.5 billion gallons of low- and no-carbon biofuels that will be needed to help the state reach its overall carbon reduction mandate.
Nichols, in a letter sent Wednesday to retired Gen. Wesley Clark, co-chairman of the pro-ethanol group Energy Growth, said that the state air board "firmly believes that corn ethanol with play an important role in helping California achieve the goals of the LCFS."
Federal renewable fuels standards already require billions of gallons of corn ethanol to be used in blending gasoline, she pointed out, adding that in California alone the quantity is expected to hit 2 billion gallon next year and to triple by 2020.
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It would make sense to analyze the land-use and total impacts of all fuels, including *gasp* electric and hybrid vehicles. What is the carbon footprint of the coal-fired electricity for plug-ins, or the carbon footprint of hundreds of pounds of batteries?
Bet you won't see that analysis as part of this legislation.
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