Low Carbon Fuel Standard: A brief video presentation.

Click the link to view my video for the Low Carbon Fuel Standard.

LCFS Movie

The video is too short to give the topic complete justice, but the message is there.

Low Carbon Fuel Standard in Oregon

Melissa DeCook, retail manager of SeQuential Biofuels uses an analogy to demonstrate the naturally low carbon content of advanced biofuels in comparison to petroleum fuels.

When a science has been proven, rational minds will tend to agree on the majority of debated issues.

Human nature exhibits that once all of the angles have been considered it usually becomes crystal clear to those involved exactly what needs influence to change and what needs to stay the same.

The Oregon legislature is no different with its structured methods of proposal, research, debate and ultimate implementation of laws that effect the daily lives of Oregonians.

Oregon is often considered to be an environmental pioneer for protecting and promoting a healthy, vibrant and sustainable climate. Oregon has already accomplished more than most states in reducing their human impact on the environment, but now is not the time for a sense of complacency towards innovative legislation. The growing concern from the negative impacts of rising levels of carbon in the atmosphere is real and must be addressed right now.

When legislation mandates specific actions from the private sector, they are forced to either adapt or face the potential of going out of business. When the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency began to restrain the use of leaded gasoline in the 1970′s, fuel producers and distributors responded immediately with the availability of cleaner additives and alternative fuels at a comparable price. In 2005 the Oregon Environmental Quality Council (EQC) adopted the Low Emission Vehicles (LEV) program requiring all new vehicle models sold after 2009 to have lower tailpipe emissions. Vehicle manufacturers are now having to respond with lower emitting vehicles or risk being shut out of the Oregon vehicle market. Taking even further steps now to reduce the physical carbon in a fuel will go a long way towards reducing the impact on the environment and global warming.

“For us, the science is clear,” said William Knight, from the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ).

“Reducing green house gas emissions will reduce our carbon footprint.”

An effective and ongoing approach to this challenging goal can be reached through the proper implementation of an effective Low Carbon Fuel Standard. A Low Carbon Fuel Standard (LCFS) is simplistic in design and approach in that it aims to reduce the amount of carbon in a unit of energy. In the petroleum dominated transportation sector, these units of energy are mainly gasoline and diesel fuels sold by the gallon. By reducing the carbon content in every gallon of gasoline and diesel there is an equal reduction to how much carbon is emitted into the atmosphere when the fuels are used for transportation.

“The aim of Oregon’s low carbon fuel standard will be to reduce the average carbon intensity of the mix of transportation fuels used in Oregon by 10 percent by the year 2020,” according to the DEQ, the government agency that is currently developing the rules for the standard.

Once the standard becomes implemented the accepted rates of carbon per unit of fuel will be need to meet a set average every year so that the reduction of 10 percent is met by 2020.

The bill was written so that no specific type of fuel source is mandated. This gives a lot of flexibility to the fuel producers and distributors. They will be the parties required to comply once the standard is implemented next year..

Fuel distributors being required to to sell low carbon fuels may seem like intrusive government, but the benefits of a LCFS can go beyond just helping the environment. “Hopefully the Low Carbon Fuel Standard will do a couple of things for Oregon,” said Ian Hill, Co-Founder and CEO of SeQuential Biofuels, a leading biodiesel producer and retailer in the Northwest.

“This is something that stimulates and invigorates the business community to want to do more,” said Hill.

“I think it will enable and focus us as an industry to continue to find new ways to produce more lower carbon fuels.”

Sustainable biofuels with low carbon life-cycles such as advanced ethanol and biodiesel are expected to play an immediate role in the reduction of carbon emissions. They are tested and proven fuels that already work with existing transportation fuel infrastructures and also keep fuel money spent locally in Oregon. Biofuels can be blended with petroleum fuels to achieve a lower carbon content per gallon. The technologies exist to make this method of carbon reduction a reality, but the problem of climate change must also be put into an even bigger context. The amount of energy that is consumed is growing and so is the population.

The price of a gallon of fuel changes almost daily at the pumps as a direct result of supply and demand. These transportation fuels do not always appear to be cheap in the conventional sense, but with with the average Oregon driver using an estimated 7.8 gallons per week is proof that the fuel is still affordable.

“ We have been blessed with, or cursed with inexpensive sources of power, and we do not pay the full environmental cost of what we do consume,” said Erik Westerholm, project specialist in energy management for the Northwest Energy Education Institute.

Westerholm believes that as humans continue to push the limits of the available resources that a growing population could be mankind’s downfall. If the reduction of our carbon footprint doesn’t coincide with the growing population, then the future is in even bigger trouble.

“ I don’t think that there is a portion of the planet that isn’t suffering in some way, shape, or form from the bi-products of our consumption,” said Westerholm.

If Oregon is going to continue to set benchmarks for environmental legislation, then the need to keep moving forward is critical. Effectively addressing climate change by being conscious of exactly how much carbon is being produced from transportation and actively seeking the implementation methods for reduction.