WASHINGTON, D.C. – Growth Energy submitted comments on Friday to the California Air Resources Board (CARB) on its draft 2022 Climate Change Scoping Plan, which lays out the path toward achieving the state’s carbon reduction goals. In its comments, Growth Energy highlighted the role higher blends of biofuels play in reducing greenhouse gas emissions, addressing air quality, and cutting consumer costs from current and future California vehicles.
“While California and the Board have made great strides to address air quality, climate change, and the move away from the use of fossil fuels, challenges remain.” wrote Growth Energy. “To address those challenges and for the state to meet its ambitious goals, there must be significant and immediate emission reductions from California’s on-road vehicle fleet. The Scoping Plan update will help define future state actions to address these challenges, and it is critical that all solutions be considered. Specially, liquid fuels will continue to play an important role in the transportation sector for decades to come, even as alternative technologies flourish.
“A primary solution for cleaning up the liquid fuel supply is the promotion of additional use of bioethanol, from starch and cellulosic sources. According to recent data from Environmental Health and Engineering, today’s bioethanol reduces greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) by an average of 46 percent compared to gasoline and can provide even further GHG reductions with additional readily available technologies. In the existing light duty fleet, higher bioethanol blends can be immediately deployed to achieve immediate GHG reductions, reduce harmful air toxics, and reduce consumer costs at the pump.”
Growth Energy’s full comments are available here.
Background
On April 15, 2022, CARB proposed Advanced Clean Cars II with a goal of 100% zero-emission vehicle (ZEV) sales by 2035. Ahead of the proposal, Growth Energy submitted comments to CARB in support of the environmental benefits of higher blends biofuels, which are saving American drivers almost a dollar per gallon at the pump. Growth Energy also recently submitted last month a detailed comment to CARB on the need for biofuels in order to decarbonize the transportation sector and reduce emissions in the existing and long-term fleet using liquid fuels. On June 10, 2022, Growth Energy’s Senior Vice President of Regulatory Affairs Chris Bliley testified before CARB in response to its proposed Advanced Clean Cars II regulation.
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