Amtrak used 1.2mn USG renewable diesel in 2023
US passenger rail service Amtrak used 1.2mn USG of renewable diesel in fiscal year 2023, up from zero the prior year, as the company balances near-term climate targets with goals to increase ridership.
Amtrak started using renewable diesel on its Capitol Corridor, San Joaquin, and Pacific Surfliner intercity passenger lines in California during the fiscal year that ended September 2023. Renewable diesel accounted for about 2pc of the company's diesel use over that period, according to a sustainability report Amtrak released this week.
The rail service's petroleum diesel use rose by about 6pc year-over-year, reflecting increases in ridership as travel recovers from the coronavirus pandemic. Scope 1 emissions, which come from Amtrak's direct operations and which mostly include burning diesel fuel, were up by more than 3pc from fiscal year 2022.
While Amtrak's highly traveled Northeast Corridor is electrified, most of its lines rely on diesel-fueled locomotives. The company plans to replace diesel-powered engines over the long term but says it expects to use renewable diesel as a stopgap solution in the short term and is aiming for the biofuel to become its "main fuel source" for its diesel-powered engines.
While the 2022 sustainability report made passing reference to biodiesel — a separate biofuel that can be blended at smaller volumes with petroleum diesel than renewable diesel — the 2023 report only mentions efforts to scale up use of renewable diesel.
Amtrak has a goal of curbing greenhouse gas emissions by 40pc from a 2010 baseline by 2030 and achieving net-zero emissions by 2045. Most renewable diesel in the US is consumed in California, which has a low-carbon fuel standard that incentivizes the use of lower-carbon fuels.
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Panama clears $10bn biofuels project
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Kingston, 15 July (Argus) — Panama's government has approved the construction of a $10bn biofuels project owned by US firm SGP BioEnergy. The project is now waiting a final investment decision that the firm expects will be reached by the end of this year. Japan's industrial conglomerate Sumitomo Group will build the Ciudad Dorada biorefinery on 130 hectares (ha) in the Colon free zone, SGP BioEnergy said. The project will produce 180,000 b/d of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) to be exported mainly to the US market and 405,000 t/yr of low-carbon hydrogen. "For the national government, it is important to promote fair and inclusive processes that lead us to migrate to systems dominated by renewable energy or energy from clean sources for the benefit of the country" Panama's commerce and industry minister Julio Molto said. The plant will be developed in three phases of 60,000 b/d each. The first phase is expected to be completed in the first quarter of 2027 and the following phases within 15-18 months each. By Canute James Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2024. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.
France's Annecy Haute-Savoie airport will offer SAF
France's Annecy Haute-Savoie airport will offer SAF
London, 15 July (Argus) — Global airport operator Vinci Airports and TotalEnergies have partnered to provide sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) and electric charging stations at France's Annecy Haute-Savoie Mont-Blanc airport. TotalEnergies will supply SAF made from waste and residues such as used cooking oil (UCO) to be blended up to 35pc with conventional aviation fuel. It will also install an electric charging station for light aircraft with minimum power of 22 kW. The installation is expected to be completed by October. Vinci Airports first made SAF available to users of Clermont-Ferrand Auvergne airport in France in 2021. The SAF, produced from UCO, is supplied by Air BP under a refuelling contract with Vinci Airports. The company said five of its airports now offer biofuels. By Evelina Lungu Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2024. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.
New Mexico statute could make LCFS tricky
New Mexico statute could make LCFS tricky
Houston, 12 July (Argus) — US independent refiner Valero warned other New Mexico's low-carbon fuel standard (LCFS) advisers today that lawmakers may make the program uniquely difficult. The language lawmakers passed earlier this year appeared to require the state's Clean Transportation Fuel Standard to reduce the carbon intensity of blended transportation fuels, said Brian Bartlett, part of Valero's public policy and strategic planning group, in a presentation to fellow advisory committee members on the draft rulemaking. That could mean tougher initial targets for the program if the state sets requirements for finished fuels already blended with biofuels, in addition to requirements for neat gasoline and diesel common to other markets, he said. "We are looking at it from the definition that is in the statute, and that is a different definition than is in any other statute," Bartlett said. Regulators and some other advisers in the meeting did not agree with the interpretation as the only way to read the law. LCFS programs require yearly reductions to transportation fuel carbon intensity. Higher-carbon fuels that exceed the annual limits incur deficits that suppliers must offset with credits generation from the distribution to the market of approved, lower-carbon alternatives. New Mexico lawmakers earlier this year directed the state Environment Department to establish an LCFS by July 2026. The state is speeding toward a formal rulemaking this summer to establish a program on a faster timeline. California's LCFS exists almost entirely through agency rulemakings. The law that led to its creation directs the state to reduce emissions, but legislators did not prescribe a transportation program. Oregon lawmakers, in part building off of that model, referenced a low-carbon fuel standard (LCFS) in 2009 legislation but did not include blended fuels in its definitions. Washington's legislation, passed in 2021 and leading to a program that began enforcement last year, defined regulated fuels as "electricity and any liquid or gaseous fuel" used for transportation. The law explicitly directs reductions using gasoline and diesel baselines, similar to other states. Under the interpretation proposed today, New Mexico would be unique in needing to determine a baseline for blends such as 10pc ethanol gasoline, or 5pc biodiesel. Blended fuels, especially renewable diesel blends, have driven much of the recent credit generation and carbon intensity reductions in west coast programs. "I think that's a novel interpretation that you have presented, and the Environment Department will definitely consider it," the agency's environmental protection division director Department Michelle Miano said. Representatives of ExxonMobil and Phillips 66 suggested that the process may need more time to offer sufficient technical expertise to the department. The Environment Department is seeking to complete a technical report ahead of a planned August petition for a rulemaking establishing the program to the state's Environmental Improvement Board. The advisory committee will meet to discuss the technical report and hold public comment on 26 July. By Elliott Blackburn Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2024. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.
Spanish biodiesel demand flat in May
Spanish biodiesel demand flat in May
Barcelona, 12 July (Argus) — Spain's biodiesel consumption was flat on the month in May but down sharply on revised figures for May 2023, according to strategic reserve Cores. There is ongoing fallout from an energy ministry audit into blending compliance. Cores figures show a little over 110,000t of demand in May, very close to levels in January-April. Consumption in the first five months of the year was 545,000t, lower than a revised 715,000t in January-May 2023. The reserve made significant revisions to 2023 demand in the previous two months of data, citing a "certification audit" by the energy ministry at the end of March. It made no major revisions to 2023 data this month. Cores data show biodiesel demand for 2023 at 1.93mn t, up from an original 1.32mn t, and a blend rate of 8.9pc in volume terms, up from 6.1pc. The audit was highly critical of 2023 domestic biofuels blending, including missed obligations and payments. It said a failure to hit blending obligations meant more than €581mn ($631mn) needed to be paid. One fuels distributor has been temporarily suspended from the programme, under a resolution passed by markets regulator CNMC on 28 June. This company has been removed from the ministry's list of companies eligible to participate in the biofuels blending certification system Sicbios. It appears a significant amount of the debt owed to the ministry comes from this firm, which has been receiving imports of diesel loaded in Turkey . A further 51 companies are waiting to formalise their exit from Sicbios, the ministry said. Other problems in the system include companies that insist they have not blended biofuels but are unable to provide documentation. Others have made sales and not completed the full process, were not registered but have asked for tickets, have exceeded blending of biofuels made from first generation feedstock, or have gone out of business. By Adam Porter Spanish biodiesel demand '000t Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2024. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.
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