Low Carbon Fuel Standard

Background

In January 2007, California's Governor Schwarzenegger issued an Executive Order calling for a low carbon fuel standard (LCFS) that would reduce greenhouse gas emissions from passenger vehicle fuels 10 percent...
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An LCFS would incentivize research, development, and deployment of low carbon transportation fuels, infrastructure, and vehicles in a timely manner. The LCFS is a full-fuel cycle emission intensity standard (e.g. grams of CO2 -eq/Mbtu of fuels) on the entire mix of transportation fuels sold. Gradually decreasing the intensity standard forces a shift the fuel pool toward cleaner fuels such as electricity and sustainable biofuels. The standard also discourages large, long-lived investments in high-carbon dirty fuels such as tar sands, liquid coal, and oil shale. Moreover, the LCFS prevents emissions “leakage” by evaluating the entire lifecycle of fuels. A LCFS would complement an economy-wide cap and trade program for greenhouse gas emissions by reducing the upstream emissions of imported fuels. To protect sensitive ecosystems and avoid competition with food supplies, the LCFS must also include safeguards that account for the indirect impacts of land use change for fuel production.

Due to the potential to reduce global warming pollution from the transportation sector and reduce reliance on foreign fuels, LCFS programs are under development in California and the European Union.

In 2009 the Governors of 11 New England and Mid-Atlantic states signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to develop a mandatory, multi-state Low Carbon Fuel Standard (LCFS). This is an important step toward reducing the region’s dangerous dependence on oil and fostering the growth of clean fuel alternatives when their governors. ENE and other advocates have been actively promoting the development of the LCFS in the Northeast.  Press Release on LCFS MOU Signing

ENE is currently involved in initiatives in both Connecticut and Massachusetts that would impose mandatory limits on carbon emissions across all sectors of the economy. Both initiatives include low carbon fuel standards in their suite of policies aimed at achieving greenhouse gas reductions. The biofuels bill recently passed in Massachusetts also requires the state to develop and enter into an agreement with the Northeast states to adopt an LCFS. ENE is working to provide information and policy recommendations to states and provinces on how to shape a regional approach to an LCFS.

See ENE's Biomass and Biofuels page for related information.