Biofuels volume mandates are passé; carbon intensity is hot, says report
In Massachusetts,a report out from Lux Research concludes that “a new generation of policies is based on technology-agnostic carbon intensity metrics, led by the California Air Resources Board (CARB) Low-Carbon Fuel Standard (LCFS). Renewable diesel and conventional electricity will be the near-term winners according to the “Identifying Winners in Low-Carbon Fuels” report, said lead author Yuan-Sheng Yu. The next big winner? Renewable electricity, he said.
Carbon intensity – the amount of carbon by weight emitted per unit of energy consumed – is driven by factors such as feedstock, process technology, and power source, while technology viability is also a factor in the march toward low-carbon fuels commercialization.
Three key takeaways from the report:
California is a model. Currently, California uses seven different low-carbon fuels derived from 26 different feedstocks, making up 11.3% of its fuel consumption. Under the state’s new regulations, growth of petroleum consumption has slowed to a mere 0.5% quarterly, while low-carbon fuels grew at 1.6% quarterly.
Waste oil halves biodiesel’s carbon intensity. In ideal conditions, biodiesel derived from fats, oil and grease (FOG), has the potential to cut carbon intensity by half. Plenty of FOG-derived biodiesel is projected to be available – up to 2.5 billion gallons per year – and even though processing poor quality waste adds to cost, FOG-based diesel remains a significant opportunity.
Carbon negative fuels, today. CARB LCFS’s well-to-wheel analysis of biogas shows that the long-sought carbon-negative fuel is commercially viable today. With California’s large transportation fuel market as a draw, improved biogas technologies as well as similar carbon-negative fuel pathways will emerge to expedite carbon emissions reduction.
Category: Fuels
