Rapid Developments in Alternative Fuels Surpassing Expectations

SACRAMENTO, Calif., June 13, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Industry leaders and investors are heartened by faster-than-expected developments in alternative fuels, according to an industry report released today.

The alternative fuels market has evolved much faster than anticipated, reveals the report, produced by a coalition of investors, utilities, and makers of alternative fuels. Electric vehicle sales are beating early projections, the surge in natural gas supply is helping decrease the carbon intensity in trucking, and consumption of biodiesel and renewable diesel supplies are growing rapidly.

"The Low Carbon Fuel Standard is exceeding our expectations and driving us towards a clean fuels future," said Eileen Tutt, executive director of the California Electric Transportation Coalition (CalETC). "The standard is doing exactly what it was designed to do – open the way for new fuels and technologies to compete fairly in the marketplace."

The report analyzes recent developments in the transportation sector and presents three scenarios that ratchet down the carbon intensity of transportation fuels 10 percent, to meet the goal of California's Low Carbon Fuel Standard by 2020. All three projections point to an increasingly diverse fuel supply, with more innovation leading to more renewable fuels and advanced vehicles.

Emerging as the report's biggest surprise is the promise of substitutes for diesel, including biodiesel, renewable diesel, and natural gas – all of which can be produced from waste materials, including animal fats, corn oil, and the gas that would otherwise escape from landfills. In fact, "2013 promises to be a banner year for biodiesel consumption in California," the report declared.

The report also highlights the benefits in terms of greenhouse gas reductions from two additional low-carbon fuel strategies: the addition of off-road electrification (such as electric locomotives and battery-powered forklifts), and improvements to California's fuel-recovery and extraction processes (using solar energy in crude oil extraction or installing carbon capture and storage technologies at oil and gas wells).

This report is the work of a diverse coalition, including CalETC, Ceres, E2, the California Natural Gas Vehicle Coalition, the National Biodiesel Board, and the Advanced Biofuels Association.

To find more information and to view the full report, visit http://www.caletc.com/LCFSReport

Media Contacts:
BreAnda Northcutt, [email protected], 916-446-1955
Danielle English, [email protected], 415-453-0430
Christina Haro, [email protected], 415-453-0430

SOURCE California Electric Transportation Coalition (CalETC)