December 10, 2015
BY The National Biodiesel Board
On Dec. 9 the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality Commission voted unanimously to finalize the state’s clean fuels program (CFP). Oregon becomes the third jurisdiction on the West Coast—following California and British Columbia—to implement a comprehensive low carbon fuels policy for transportation. The policy is modeled closely after the California low carbon fuel standard and will reduce greenhouse gas emissions 10 percent by 2025.
“Biodiesel is the most sustainable fuel on the planet,” said Don Scott, National Biodiesel Board director of sustainability. “We expect to play a major role in the Oregon program, just like we have in California and British Columbia.”
Oregon’s announcement leaves Washington as the only state on the West Coast without a program to reduce GHG emissions.
Rather than conducting its own lifecycle analysis, Oregon will generally use the values created in California, which have concluded that biodiesel decreases GHG emissions by 50 to 80 percent.
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“We are pleased that a regional carbon market has developed on the West Coast and that Oregon will primarily be using California values,” Scott said. “This should improve the efficiency and liquidity of the programs.”
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Reps. Zach Nunn, R-Iowa, and Nikki Budzinski, D-Ill., on May 7 introduced a bill that aims to update USDA’s Section 9003 program to expand access to grants, streamline loan guarantees and provide $100 million in mandatory funding over five years.
The Canadian International Trade Tribunal on May 5 announced that a preliminary investigation launched earlier this year did not find evidence that imports of U.S. renewable diesel are causing harm to Canada’s domestic renewable diesel industry.
Reps. Mike Carey, R-Ohio, and Mariannette Miller-Meeks, R-Iowa, on May 1 introduced legislation that aims to retroactively extend the biodiesel blenders tax credit (BTC) and the second-generation biofuel producer tax credit.
A broad coalition representing more than 350 trucking fleets, shippers, and supporters of freight movement is urging Congress to extend the biodiesel blenders’ tax credit to lower supply chain costs and protect consumers from inflationary pressures.
Germany-based Mabanaft on April 17 announced it started to supply SAF to airlines at Frankfurt Airport in January. The company said it will deliver more than 1,000 metric tons of SAF to the airport this year under the European SAF mandate.