National LCFS

Please find us at our new website here before July 18, 2012  and here

after July 18, 2012

Co-Directors:

Daniel Sperling, Professor (ITS - Davis)

Sonia Yeh, Research scientist (ITS - Davis)

Study Director:

James Rhodes, Researcher (UC San Diego)

Leading Researchers:

• Michael Griffin (Green Design Institute of Carnegie Mellon University)
• Paulina Jaramillo (Green Design Institute of Carnegie Mellon University)
• Haixiao Huang (Dept. of Agricultural and Consumer Economics of University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign)
• Madhu Khana (Dept. of Agricultural and Consumer Economics of University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign)
• Paul Leiby (Oak Ridge National Laboratory)
• Siwa Msangi (International Food Policy Research Institute)
  
• Hayri Onal (Dept. of Agricultural and Consumer Economics of University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign)
• Nathan Parker (ITS - Davis)
  
• Jonathan Rubin (School of Economics, University of Maine)
• Daniel Sperling (ITS - Davis)
  
• Julie Witcover (ITS - Davis)
  
• Christopher Yang (ITS - Davis)
  
• Sonia Yeh (ITS - Davis)
  

Project Description

Reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions is one of the most important national policies in the coming decades. Despite the recent efforts in biofuel mandate (the Renewable Fuel Standard Program, RFS2), vehicle efficiency standard (CAFE), and the GHG emission standards for light-duty vehicles, U.S. transportation greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions will continue to rise. California and the European Union (EU) have adopted Low Carbon Fuel Standards (LCFS) that aim to reduce the greenhouse gas emissions from transportation fuels. Other countries/regions in the U.S. also seriously consider adopting the LCFS.

This study has two objectives: 1) design an effective and implementable national LCFS; and 2) compare an LCFS with other policy instruments that have the potential to significantly reduce transportation GHG emissions from fuel use.

The study will propose a design of a robust national LCFS policy that balances environmental, political, and economic goals and is readily implementable and enforceable (in terms of data availability, simplicity, etc). The study will consider regional differences in resource availability, compliance costs, economic opportunities and policy impacts, and the sustainability safeguards needed to ensure an effective environmental performance of fuel policies. We will recommend a design of policy instruments for implementing a national LCFS based on the lessons learned from our study. We will examine the potential for innovation of low carbon fuels that will be encouraged by an LCFS policy and in particular the type of feedstocks and technologies that will be used and their implications for regional land use, infrastructure needs, food and fuel prices, and other environmental impacts in the U.S.

ITS-Davis co-led the design of the California LCFS and provided regulatory supports and policy advice to the California Air Resources Board.  ITS-Davis will lead the national LCFS study, joined by the Green Design Institute of Carnegie Mellon University; Dept. of Agricultural and Consumer Economics of University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign; and the School of Economics, University of Maine. ITS-Davis (led by Sonia Yeh and Dan Sperling) will bring together a large group of UC experts that are recognized nationally in the areas of transportation energy and policy, economics, advanced vehicle technologies, fuel infrastructure, and lifecycle analysis. The Green Design Institute of Carnegie Mellon University (led by Mike Griffin, Chris Hendrickson, Scott Mathews, and Lester Lave) will bring in expertise in lifecycle analysis and public policy design. The Dept. of Agricultural and Consumer Economics of University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign (led by Madhu Khanna) will lead the resource assessments and economic modeling of biofuels policies. The School of Economics, University of Maine (led by Jonathan Rubin) will bring in expertise in economics and transportation energy. The project team will deliver white papers and a final report that examines policy options, program design methods, resource availabilities and use, and economic and environmental impacts.