California governor previews plan to reduce carbon emissions

 

BERKELEY, Calif., May 21, 2007 -- Daily Californian, U-WIRE

 

Addressing an international crowd at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory Friday, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger previewed the details of the state's proposed low-carbon fuel standard, which he said could set the model for the rest of the world to reduce gas emissions.

At the International Low Carbon Fuel Symposium, the governor spoke to energy industry officials, researchers and policy makers about his hopes for California to use market-based approaches to lower oil dependency and vehicular carbon emissions, which make up 40 percent of the state's greenhouse emissions.

"These are steps that can literally change the world," Schwarzenegger said. "We can protect the environment, slow global warming, and stimulate a new economy of low-carbon fuels."

The plan's details come from the findings of a team of researchers, headed by University of California-Berkeley professor Alex Farrell and UC-Davis professor Daniel Sperling, whom the governor commissioned when he introduced the low-carbon standard legislation in January.

The governor's executive order requires a 10 percent reduction of vehicle carbon emissions by 2020. The plan is expected to replace 20 percent of gasoline consumption with alternative fuels and put more than 7 million alternative fuel or hybrid cars on the road.

Oil companies that can not meet the lower carbon fuel targets must buy credits from other companies who have lowered their fuel below the standard.

To evaluate the feasibility of the target, the 20-member UC team analyzed the effectiveness of different alternative fuels such as ethanol, biodiesel, natural gas and hydrogen, based on the life cycle from extraction and production to combustion.

"It's like basically going on a diet," Schwarzenegger said. "When you're overweight and you want to lose weight, you've got to know first how much you weigh, and you have to have a scale. And a reliable measure is key, absolutely key to our low-carbon fuel standards."

The UC group concluded that market-induced technological innovation and competition, efficient low-carbon fuels and better vehicles are an achievable way to reach the governor's target.

"This is just the beginning, this 10 percent goal," Sperling said. "This framework is to go well beyond this 10 percent standard."

In response to audience questions about the sustainability of using land for biofuel crops instead of food crops, Sperling said the first priority was establishing a model for low-carbon emissions.

"(Sustainability) is important but it shouldn't be used to derail the low-carbon fuel standard," he said.

After being refined, the plan will be voted on in June by the California Air Resources Board, which must start enforcing the policy by 2010.

"We want to understand how the regulations can be written, especially if the alternative fuels produced and consumed in California are really low-carbon fuels," said Robert Sawyer, chair of the California Air Resources Board and UC Berkeley professor of mechanical engineering and energy and resources.

Some foreign policy makers who attended the symposium were optimistic about adapting the California model in the own countries.

"We have our own environmental policy and a lot of the policy work in California is interesting," said Marc LePage, Canadian Consul General in San Francisco. "California is setting the trend worldwide in this area."

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