What's New List Serve Post Display

Friday, December 2, 2016 at 10:00 am. 

Amy Myers Jaffe, M.S., 
University of California, Davis and
Nathan Parker, Ph.D., 
Arizona State University

Friday, December 2, 2016 10:00 a.m., PST (WEBCAST)
Sierra Hearing Room, 2nd Floor, Cal/EPA Building
1001 I Street, Sacramento, California

California will need high volumes of alternative low carbon fuels
to be able to meet its climate change goals. In order to support
these goals, this study investigated the technological and
commercial feasibility of producing large quantities of renewable
natural gas fuels for use in California. The study’s results
indicate that there are substantial sources of RNG in California
that are commercially competitive with existing fossil fuel-based
transportation fuels because carbon externalities are taken into
consideration in the California market through existing programs
such as the Low Carbon Fuel Standard (LCFS) and the U.S.
Renewable Fuels Standard (RFS). At current credit prices
including California’s LCFS and the U.S. federal Renewable
Identification Number (RIN) credits, up to 82 billion cubic feet
per year (bcf/y) of RNG supply could be attractive for private
investment at competitive rate of return in developing RNG
sources from landfill, dairy, municipal solid waste and
waste-water sites combined. We find that the LCFS credit of $120
per metric tonne of CO2, if taken alone, enables economically
viable production of up to 14 bcf RNG transportation fuel over
the study period, which begins in 2013 and extends into the
2020s, 6.3 bcf from landfill, 1.5 bcf from waste-water treatment,
1.75 bcf from municipal solid waste, and 4.3 bcf from dairy. If
current carbon credit prices persist into the future for programs
like the LCFS, a substantial portion of natural gas consumption
in the transportation sector can be satisfied by RNG. The
analysis also shows that increasing tipping fees for municipal
solid waste can influence private investment in RNG. Finally, the
study investigates the impact of California’s quality standards
for RNG and distance to central distribution systems on the level
of investment in certain kinds of RNG. These results support the
implementation of the Low Carbon Fuel Standard, Short-lived
Climate Pollutant Strategy, and incentive programs by providing
insight into feasible methods to maximize the production of RNG
via the most cost-effective pathways, thereby providing practical
means to meet the State’s long term climate goals. 

For more information, including the webcast link and
presentations, visit the announcement webpage at
https://www.arb.ca.gov/research/seminars/jaffe/jaffe.htm





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