Half of California Diesel Fuel Is Replaced By Clean Fuels

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The California Air Resources Board (CARB) said today that in its shift away from polluting fuel sources, clean fuels are replacing more than  50% of the diesel used in the state during Q1 of 2023. The awakened Low Carbon Fuel Standard (LCFS), a regulation requiring fuel producers to reduce the carbon intensity of fuel sold in the state, is largely responsible for the shift by encouraging the use and production of cleaner alternatives.

“As technological advances put a zero-emissions future within reach, the use of cleaner fuels offers an essential tool to reduce pollution now,” said CARB Executive Officer, Dr. Steven Cliff. “A 50% reduction in diesel means cleaner air, healthier communities and a commitment to reaching carbon neutrality in California by 2045.”

Compliance with the LCFS began in 2011. The program is designed to lower the carbon intensity in fuels by assessing each step in their production, from extraction to combustion. If a fuel has a carbon intensity above that baseline it generates a deficit for the producer. If the intensity is below the baseline it can generate credits which may then be sold to a producer who has a deficit.

Carbon intensity for the LCFS program is measured through lifecycle analysis of a fuel. The LCFS is one of several programs developed under AB 32 (the 2006 Global Warming Solutions Act) to cut California’s emissions of climate warming greenhouse gas. Other programs include Cap-and-Trade, which establishes a declining limit to emissions allowed in the state by requiring industry to pay for pollution produced.

Newer regulations such as Advanced Clean Trucks and Advanced Clean Fleets put in place a phased-in transition to sell and implement clean truck technology in California, in line with Governor Gavin Newsom’s Executive Order calling for all heavy-duty vehicles traveling in the state to be zero emissions by 2045. In July, CARB announced the Clean Truck Partnership with the nation’s leading truck manufacturers, including the Engine and Truck Manufacturers Association and its member companies, and Ford Motor Company, which advances the development of zero-emissions truck technology, adding further momentum to the shift to cleaner transportation fuels.

The LCFS program helped to replace nearly two billion gallons of regular diesel fuel in 2022 with a combination of cleaner fuels, including renewable diesel, biodiesel, electricity, and hydrogen. Since compliance began, the program has helped to replace more than 8.6 billion gallons of diesel.

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