Amendments to California’s Low Carbon Fuel Standard (LCFS) amendments took effect on 1 July, Biodiesel magazine wrote.
Announced by the California Air Resources Board (CARB) on 27 June, amendments to the state’s LCFS regulations were made following approval by the Office of Administrative Law.
The updates aimed to reduce the carbon intensity of the state’s transportation fuel by 30% by 2030 and by 90% by 2045, the 8 July report said.
Other changes to the LCFS programme included a requirement for fuel producers to track crop-based and forestry-based feedstocks to their point of origin; independent feedstock certification to ensure biomass-based diesel and sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) feedstocks are not undermining natural carbon stocks; a halt to palm-derived fuels receiving credits; and a cap on the use of soyabean oil, canola oil and sunflower oil in the production of LCFS-compliant biodiesel diesel fuels, Biodiesel magazine wrote.
The amended regulation focuses public and private sector investment towards increasing cleaner fuel and transportation options for Californians, accelerating the deployment of zero-emission infrastructure and helping the state achieve legally mandated air quality and climate targets, CARB said on 27 June.
“Implementing the 1 July effective date for the LCFS provides critical certainty to industry, as well as the LCFS credit market,” said CARB Board Chair Liane Randolph.
“But often lost in the noise around this programme are our primary reasons for approving it: better health for Californians, our economy and the environment, as well as achieving required state and federal air quality standards.”
The LCFS reduces air pollution and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by setting a declining target for the carbon in transportation fuels used in California; producers that do not meet established benchmarks buy credits from others that do.
CARB said the amendments would reduce GHG emissions by 558M tonnes between 2025 and 2045.
Since its introduction, the LCFS had reduced the carbon in California’s fuel mix by almost 13% and replaced 75% of the diesel used in the state with cleaner alternatives, displacing 320M tonnes of CO2 since 2011, the board added.
California consumes most of the renewable diesel produced in the USA, with the fuel making up nearly 65% of its transportation distillate consumption in the third quarter of 2024, according to US Energy Information Administration (EIA) data.
In November 2024, renewable diesel production on the US West Coast (including California, Oregon and Washington) exceeded 90,000 barrels/day, nearly four times the volume in 2023, with refiners such as Marathon Martinez and Phillips 66 Rodel significantly expanding capacity, Mansfield Energy wrote on 3 March.
