[originally published in RealClear Energy]
The Biden administration has set bold and pivotal targets geared toward considerably curbing America’s carbon emissions from automobiles and vehicles, which I wholeheartedly help. Nevertheless, after years of doubling down on an electrical automobile technique to attain these objectives, they appear to lastly be acknowledging the fact of the challenges going through our transportation sector’s vitality transition.
Fleets take many years to show over, infrastructure buildout takes even longer, and electrical options for the heavy-duty transportation sectors stay long-term performs. The administration’s common sense transfer to average its electrical automobile (EV) mandates is sensible coverage to purchase time for electrical applied sciences to change into cheaper and extra extensively obtainable. In the meantime, the “electrification hole” that continues to be for many modes of transportation, together with heavy-duty purposes like vehicles, ships, and airplanes, could be bridged by different obtainable renewable applied sciences that use current infrastructure – like low-carbon superior biofuels.
Throughout America, there may be well-documented and affordable skepticism concerning the federal authorities’s bold 50% EV gross sales goal by 2030. EVs stay costly for a lot of Individuals and charging infrastructure has been sluggish to penetrate rural communities regardless of important technological positive factors lately. Even when sluggish EV gross sales rebounded over the following few months, it might be many years earlier than they change into America’s predominant passenger automobile.
The vitality transition is vital for the U.S. to cut back its carbon emissions. The U.S. transportation sector accounts for 4% of complete international emissions – among the many largest single supply of emissions on this planet, and double that of China’s transportation emissions. And even when EVs change into the predominant mode of transportation, a good portion of passenger automobiles will nonetheless depend on liquid fuels. Some estimates counsel that even by 2050, when EVs will make up nearly all of new automotive gross sales, they are going to nonetheless solely characterize 50% of automobiles on U.S. highways. We should have options for this sector if we’re to stave off the worst doable results of local weather change.
To be clear, electrification will play an vital function in our vitality transition. But it surely can not – and shouldn’t – be our solely instrument to handle the local weather disaster. We should use all obtainable applied sciences, particularly these that may be instantly deployed utilizing current fueling infrastructure and function drop-in replacements for fossil fuels, to cut back carbon emissions from inner combustion-powered automobiles.
At this time, we use superior biofuels throughout our transportation sector to cut back transportation-based emissions – in 2023 they accounted for almost 4% of all gasoline bought and used within the U.S. Superior biofuels are considerably totally different from first-generation biofuels, like corn-based ethanol, as they’re federally mandated to attain not less than a 50% discount in greenhouse gasoline emissions in comparison with conventional fuels. They’re produced from a variety of sustainable supplies that will in any other case be thought of waste – like agricultural residue, non-food crops, industrial waste streams, municipal stable waste (MSW), and extra. A lot of them far exceed the federal minimal targets, emitting greater than 80% fewer emissions in comparison with fossil fuels. Maybe much more importantly, they’re “drop-in” fuels, which means they’re appropriate with gas-powered automobiles and require no change to America’s current fueling infrastructure, presenting a invaluable immediate-use alternative to cut back our emissions with out the price of extra infrastructure.
Superior biofuels can even scale back emissions from heavy trade – specifically, long-haul trucking, marine delivery, airplanes, and freight rail – which can be troublesome or almost inconceivable to affect. Research have proven that heavy-duty vehicles alone accounted for 26% of transportation-based carbon emissions as lately as 2020 – and semi-trucks oftentimes keep on the street for 20 or extra years. Given the significance of those modes of transport to our financial system and the truth that they are going to stay on the street for the foreseeable future, the significance of increasing the quantity of low-carbon gasoline in our gasoline combine has by no means been higher.
The Biden Administration acknowledged this want to extend sustainability for the heavy-duty transportation sector after they referred to as on the superior biofuels trade to provide sufficient sustainable aviation gasoline (SAF) to fulfill 100% of aviation gasoline demand by 2050. And but their coverage choices since making this SAF Grand Problem have have despatched combined messages, making it even more durable for the superior biofuels trade to succeed in its full potential.
Final yr, the U.S. Environmental Safety Company launched its 2023-2025 Renewable Quantity Obligations (RVOs) that established biofuel quantity necessities which, for the primary time, confirmed a slight shift towards this technology-neutral strategy. The company acknowledged important manufacturing positive factors made by America’s superior biofuels producers, however its ruling nonetheless undervalued the sector’s full potential and disagreed with a examine by the U.S. Vitality Info Administration predicting a doubling of home renewable diesel manufacturing capability by 2025.
However the administration’s determination to ease its EV mandates means that we could also be on the cusp of a extra practical-minded strategy to emissions policymaking. This can be a welcome improvement that displays not solely the quick actuality of the local weather disaster but additionally the issues voiced by Individuals throughout the nation concerning the practicality of such a forceful EV transition.
All-encompassing challenges require expansive mindsets to handle them swiftly and successfully. It’s good to see America’s policymakers awaken to this precept, which has grounded the superior biofuels sector’s efforts to provide extensively obtainable low carbon gasoline applied sciences that may be deployed at this time in help of our shared local weather objectives. By supporting low-carbon options for the liquid gasoline area alongside EVs, we will make extra significant and lasting carbon reductions in America.
Michael McAdams is president of the Superior Biofuel Affiliation.
