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<\/a><\/p>\nThe LCFS reduces air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions by setting a declining carbon intensity target for transportation fuels used in California; producers that don\u2019t meet established benchmarks buy credits from those that do. This system has generated $4 billion in annual private sector investment toward a cleaner transportation sector. These investments provide multiple economic benefits to Californian consumers, including:<\/p>\n
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- Increasing consumer choices, which drives transportation fuel price competition<\/li>\n
- Growing new industries and attracting investments that support jobs and strengthen communities<\/li>\n
- Reducing dependence on petroleum and the oil industry, thereby protecting consumers from its associated supply and cost volatility<\/li>\n
- Making electric vehicles more affordable<\/li>\n
- Expanding access to electric vehicle charging and hydrogen refueling infrastructure<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
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- Reducing the health impacts and health care costs associated with air pollution from fossil fuels<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
The updates set targets to reduce the carbon intensity of California\u2019s transportation fuel pool by 30% by 2030 and by 90% by 2045. The amendments also increase support for zero-emissions infrastructure, including for medium- and heavy-duty vehicles, and make more transit agencies eligible to generate credits.<\/p>\n
The LCFS has been very effective to date, reducing the carbon intensity of California\u2019s fuel mix by almost 13% and displacing 70% of the diesel used in the state with cleaner alternatives. This has displaced 320 million metric tons CO2 of gasoline and diesel emissions since the Program\u2019s inception. That\u2019s an amount equivalent 85% of today\u2019s annual statewide greenhouse gas emissions. The growth in the use of renewable fuel is powering\u00a0needed emissions reductions<\/a>\u00a0in the transportation sector.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe proposal approved today strikes a balance between reducing the environmental and health impacts of transportation fuel used in California and ensuring that low-carbon options are available as the state continues to work toward a zero-emissions future,\u201d said\u00a0CARB Chair Liane Randolph<\/strong>. \u201cToday\u2019s approval increases consumer options beyond petroleum, provides a roadmap for cleaner air, and leverages private sector investment and federal incentives to spur innovation to address climate change and pollution.\u201d<\/p>\n
The LCFS is designed to provide the most cost-effective path to support clean fuels and infrastructure.\u00a0Affordability remains a key consideration for the Board, and it has directed staff to assess any impacts and potential mitigation from today\u2019s adopted amendments on retail gasoline prices every six months\u00a0and to submit an annual report beginning one year\u00a0from the effective date of these amendments, and to collaborate with the California Energy Commission in that effort.\u00a0The program currently limits the pass-through costs companies can shift to consumers by capping the price of credits that high-carbon-intensity fuel producing entities are required to purchase for compliance and allowing banking of credits bought at lower prices. Data from third party commodities markets experts shows the current LCFS pass through to California consumers is $0.10 per gallon of gasoline. This is consistent with the self-reported data by high-carbon-intensity fuel producers, which reflects an LCFS cost pass through to consumers of $0.08 to $0.10 per gallon of gasoline.<\/p>\n
Supporting Californians<\/strong><\/h4>\n
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- Making electric vehicles more affordable:<\/strong>\u00a0\u201cThe LCFS has also provided hundreds of millions of dollars of beneficial credits and incentives supporting the build-out of EV charging infrastructure and vehicle rebates which lower the upfront costs for drivers,\u201d said a representative from\u00a0MN8 Energy<\/a>, which produces renewable energy, in a letter submitted to CARB.<\/li>\n
- Expanding access to charging infrastructure:\u00a0<\/strong>As of October 10, 2024, there have been a total of\u00a071 hydrogen stations and 749 fast EV charger sites<\/a>\u00a0approved under the Hydrogen Refueling Infrastructure (HRI) and (Fast Charging Infrastructure) FCI provisions of LCFS, respectively.<\/li>\n
- Reducing health care costs associated with pollution from dirty fuels:\u00a0<\/strong>CARB estimates\u00a0$5 billion<\/a>\u00a0in savings from avoided health outcomes between 2024 and 2046.<\/li>\n
- Increasing consumer choices, which drives price competition<\/strong><\/a>:\u00a0<\/strong>\u201cBy using market-based policies that ensure the best ideas succeed, we can also maximize impact by marshaling private capital to invest in climate solutions. Fortunately, California already has an excellent example of this kind of approach in the Low Carbon Fuel Standard (LCFS).\u201d<\/li>\n
- Reducing dependence on the oil industry, thereby protecting consumers from its associated supply and cost volatility:\u00a0<\/strong>The LCFS has displaced more than 30 billion gallons of petroleum fuel.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
The LCFS sends long-term market signals to phase out combustion fuels and increase zero emission fuels and transportation options. The LCFS updates adopted by the Board were developed after a rigorous, years-long public rulemaking process that incorporated feedback received from interested parties. Updates include:<\/p>\n
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- Providing billions of additional dollars to fund zero-emission vehicle charging and hydrogen fueling infrastructure, including new crediting opportunities for medium – and heavy-duty refueling infrastructure, to support implementation of California\u2019s zero emission vehicle regulations.<\/li>\n
- Increasing incentives for infrastructure in low-income neighborhoods and remote locations and ensuring that historically underserved communities receive needed investment to reduce emissions and provide equitable access to a clean air future.<\/li>\n
- Phasing out avoided methane crediting associated with the use of biomethane used as a combustion fuel, but extending the use of biomethane for renewable hydrogen to align with goals outlined in the\u00a02022 Scoping Plan<\/a>\u00a0\u2013 the state\u2019s plan for reducing climate-warming emissions and reaching carbon neutrality.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
Updated guardrails<\/strong><\/h4>\n
The LCFS updates also include new guardrails to avoid land use changes resulting in potential loss of food production or deforestation. The majority of biomass-based diesel and sustainable aviation fuel in the LCFS has historically come from waste feedstocks, such as used cooking oil, animal fat and inedible distiller\u2019s corn oil. To minimize potential land use issues, the program will require fuel producers track crop-based and forestry-based feedstocks to their point of origin. The LCFS will also require independent feedstock certification to ensure biomass-based diesel and sustainable aviation fuel feedstocks are not undermining natural carbon stocks. Palm-derived fuels are also explicitly prohibited from receiving credits.<\/p>\n
Californians will benefit from these program updates in numerous ways, including:<\/p>\n
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- As consumers increase their use of low\u00a0carbon intensity\u00a0fuels and more efficient vehicles, fuel costs per mile will be reduced by 42 percent – translating to savings of over $20 billion in fuel expenditures every year by 2045. For light-duty vehicles (cars, pickup trucks, sport utility vehicles, vans, and minivans) these fuel cost savings will be even more pronounced, cutting today\u2019s costs to Californians by more than 50 percent.<\/li>\n
- The amount of LCFS proceeds invested in disadvantaged communities for clean fuel and transportation projects is estimated to be approximately $4.8 billion in the next decade.<\/li>\n
- Californians are expected to save almost $5 billion in health care costs by avoiding the impacts of air pollution.<\/li>\n
- The amendments will reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 558 million metric tons, NOx by more than 25,500 tons and PM 2.5 by more than 4,200 tons between 2025 and 2045.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
More Information<\/a><\/h4>\n
CARB’s mission is to promote and protect public health, welfare, and ecological resources through effective reduction of air pollutants while recognizing and considering effects on the economy. CARB is the lead agency for climate change programs and oversees all air pollution control efforts in California to attain and maintain health-based air quality standards.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Sacramento, CA…The California Air Resources Board approved updates to the Low Carbon Fuel Standard (LCFS) that channel global, national and local private sector investment towards increasing cleaner fuel and transportation options for consumers, accelerating the deployment of zero-emission infrastructure, and keeping the state on track to meet legislatively mandated air quality and climate targets. The […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":185280,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_cbd_carousel_blocks":"[]","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,20,5,1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-185279","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-business","category-featured","category-government","category-news","last_archivepost"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/p8Pn5Tsv_400x400.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/185279","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=185279"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/185279\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":185284,"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/185279\/revisions\/185284"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/185280"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=185279"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=185279"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=185279"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
- Expanding access to charging infrastructure:\u00a0<\/strong>As of October 10, 2024, there have been a total of\u00a071 hydrogen stations and 749 fast EV charger sites<\/a>\u00a0approved under the Hydrogen Refueling Infrastructure (HRI) and (Fast Charging Infrastructure) FCI provisions of LCFS, respectively.<\/li>\n
- Making electric vehicles more affordable:<\/strong>\u00a0\u201cThe LCFS has also provided hundreds of millions of dollars of beneficial credits and incentives supporting the build-out of EV charging infrastructure and vehicle rebates which lower the upfront costs for drivers,\u201d said a representative from\u00a0MN8 Energy<\/a>, which produces renewable energy, in a letter submitted to CARB.<\/li>\n
- Reducing the health impacts and health care costs associated with air pollution from fossil fuels<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n