Representatives for disadvantaged communities have urged California regulators to revise the state's Low Carbon Fuel Standard (LCFS) to limit use of dairy biogas and liquid biofuels that generated half of all new program credits last year.
The California Air Resources Board's (CARB) environmental justice advisory committee (EJAC) late on 25 August adopted a strongly worded resolution calling for the board to eliminate outsized credit generation from biogas harvested from dairy manure as early as the start of 2024 and to cap the lipid biofuel feedstocks at 2020 levels.
The committee also sought more research on the effects of all transportation fuels on the most vulnerable communities and to exclude crediting for direct air capture and similar carbon-removal projects.
The resolution summarizes the newly permanent committee's program recommendations as CARB prepares to vote on potential changes to the LCFS in early 2024. The board and the committee will hold a joint, non-voting meeting largely focused on the LCFS program on 14 September.
LCFS requires yearly reductions to transportation fuel carbon intensity. Fuels that exceed the annual limit incur deficits that suppliers must offset with credits generated from the distribution of approved lower-carbon alternatives.
Dairy biogas used in California transportation as compressed natural gas generated 14pc of all new credits in 2022. The fuel has faced increasing pressure before both CARB and the California legislature to limit its use. Dairy biogas receives some of the lowest — and most potent for credit generation — scores in the program in part because California has no other regulations specifically limiting dairy methane emissions. Everything an operation reduces may be credited, unlike landfills or other regulated methane sources in the state.
Opponents have argued that crediting these methane capture systems creates a new revenue stream for large and growing dairies with local damage to air and water quality for rural communities. Other transportation opponents argue the fuel does nothing to accomplish California's broader goals of phasing out combustion engines from the state.
Biogas advocates argue that the program offers essential incentives to support agricultural methane capture, and that significant investments were made based on the LCFS.
The EJAC recommendation urged removal of avoided methane consideration from how the agency calculates dairy biogas credits and also applications rely on existing methane reducing equipment instead of creating new reductions.
Renewable diesel generated 36pc of all new LCFS credits generated in 2022 and made up 49pc of California's total diesel pool in the first quarter of this year. Crop-based feedstocks, including soybean oil and corn oil, made up about 39pc of renewable diesel delivered into California last year. Used cooking oil was the largest feedstock, used in 34pc of all delivered renewable diesel.
Spot credit prices have fallen as generation of new LCFS credits has outpaced new deficits for more than two years. CARB plans to advance the LCFS rulemaking process in September, with more details on specific recommendations later this fall and an expected board vote in early 2024.
