Blue states in the Midwest are turning their attention to tailpipe emissions after recently enacting laws mandating 100% carbon-free electricity.
In Minnesota, a state-appointed task force last week released a report with recommendations on clean transportation standards, mandating reductions in the carbon intensity of vehicle fuels over the next 20 years. Bills that would establish similar standards have been introduced in Michigan and other states. And Illinois is the first state in the Midwest to enact legislation to adopt California’s Advanced Clean Car II rule (a policy that abolishes new gasoline car sales in 2035).
Measures to reduce vehicle emissions are gaining momentum on the coasts, but have been slower in Democratic-led states in the Midwest. Now, taking a closer look at this issue, policymakers in agricultural countries are faced with the question: Should ethanol and carbon capture and storage (CCS) be adopted as a long-term solution to decarbonizing transportation? doing.
The answer to this question in a report to the Minnesota Legislature is a resounding “yes,” but this position has received pushback from the Sierra Club and other environmental groups.
Jeremy Martin, senior scientist and fuel policy director at the Union of Concerned Scientists and a member of the Minnesota Task Force, said the introduction of low-carbon biofuels could have short-term climate benefits. , said that the momentum for promoting electrification should not be taken away. Light transport would take him more than 10 years even in the most aggressive scenario.
“It’s not productive to get involved in the ethanol wars,” Martin said in an interview. “People feel like electricity and biofuels are competing with each other. And I think that’s a mistake.”
The report from the Minnesota Task Force comes from legislation signed last year by Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz (D), tasking the state with evaluating the potential for a standard that would reduce the carbon intensity of fuels by 25 percent in 2030. A funding working group was established. Comparison to 2018 baseline. It also called for a 75% reduction by 2040 and 100% reduction by 2050.
Minnesota adopted California’s 2012 Clean Car Rule, which survived a court challenge last year, and is currently implementing it. The state did not move forward with recent “Advanced Clean Car II” rules that mandate 100 percent emission-free vehicles by 2035.
The working group, appointed by members of four state agencies, included 40 representatives from the automotive, utility, agriculture, and petroleum industries. Environmental organization. labor; and other interests. The 309-page report was delivered to state lawmakers on February 1st.
The report concluded that carbon emissions reduction targets set by Congress a year ago “will be difficult to meet.” Instead, working group members recommended less ambitious targets of reducing carbon intensity by 13 to 17 percent by 2030, 40 to 50 percent by 2040, and a 2050 target in the future. It was decided to be re-evaluated.
Reductions are accounted for through a credit-based compliance system.
Brendan Jordan, vice president of transportation and fuels at the nonprofit Great Plains Institute, which organizes a broad coalition of businesses and advocacy groups promoting clean transportation standards in Minnesota, said transportation electrification is the “biggest role to play. It is hoped that this will be achieved.” Carbon reduction is achieved especially for cars and trucks.
But the working group’s vision for achieving the goal also includes low-carbon biofuels, which could earn carbon capture compliance credits if the CO2 is not used to enhance oil recovery. It is planned to be an activity.
Jordan, a member of the working group, said strategies to reduce the carbon intensity of biofuels include expanding the use of renewable energy to produce ethanol and biodiesel, as well as improving on-farm practices such as the use of cover crops and nitrogen management. He said that this also extends to practice.
But, he added, “carbon capture and storage is one way biofuel producers can reduce carbon intensity.”
“False assumption”?
The list of supporters of clean transportation standards in Minnesota is long and diverse. This includes several environmental groups. Minnesota Biofuels Association. And its members include numerous automakers.
“This is a policy that addresses greenhouse gas emissions in the transportation sector, and it’s a multi-fuel approach,” Jordan said. “That way Tesla and Rivian can sit at the same table with proponents of low-carbon liquid fuels and try to find common ground.”
In the long term, internal combustion engines in passenger cars should be phased out in favor of electric vehicles, Martin said. However, biofuels will play a major role in the decarbonization of aviation. “It will be a big challenge…and a lot of work needs to be done to ensure that biofuels are clean enough that they can be produced without expanding the area of agriculture.”
Not all 40 members of the Clean Transportation Working Group agreed with the recommendation, which quickly drew criticism from four environmental advocacy groups. Green groups published their own “minority report”, saying the majority’s recommendations were fundamentally flawed and based on politics rather than science.
Peter Wagenius, legislative and political director for the Sierra Club’s North Star Chapter, said in an interview that this is “based on the false assumption that ethanol is contributing to climate change.”
Wagenius cited a 2022 study led by researchers at the University of Wisconsin that concluded that corn ethanol has the same carbon intensity as gasoline, perhaps as much as 24 percent higher.
The Renewable Fuels Association disputes the study’s conclusions, pointing to competing studies that say it reduces greenhouse gas emissions by 44 to 52 percent compared to gasoline.
The biofuels industry is betting big on carbon sequestration to further reduce carbon emissions, backed by a 45th quarter federal tax credit that will spur the development of carbon dioxide pipelines across the Upper Plains.
Minnesota is building an $8 billion CO2 pipe where Iowa-based Summit Carbon Solutions will transport carbon dioxide from dozens of Corn Belt ethanol plants to sites in North Dakota and inject it deep underground. It is one of the states proposing to build the line.
But environmental groups object to the idea that Minnesota lawmakers could ban neighboring North Dakota from using carbon dioxide to boost oil recovery.
“The only way to prevent CO2 from ethanol plants from being piped in North Dakota is to ban construction of the pipelines themselves,” Wagenius said.
Will Illinois follow California’s lead?
In Minnesota, Illinois and other agricultural states where carbon pipelines are proposed, the debate surrounding the projects is mostly limited to siting lawsuits pending with utility regulators. Discussions about the role of ethanol, its carbon intensity, and policies to reduce emissions in the transport sector have not yet received much attention.
In Illinois, a coalition of clean energy advocates is urging lawmakers to pass a bill introduced last month that includes three clean car policies, including California’s Advanced Clean Car II regulations.
The House version of the bill, House Bill 1634, is pending in committee, with hundreds of political parties considering arguments for and against the bill.
Those backers include Illinois-based electric car makers Lion Electric and Rivian Automotive.
Alan Hoffman, Rivian’s chief policy officer, said in an email that states that adopt clean car and truck standards, such as those proposed in HB 1634, will “improve the availability of zero-emission vehicles. “It will bring us to the forefront when it comes to improvements and faster deployment.” statement. He said the bill would make Illinois the first state in the Midwest to adopt the rule and “solidify Illinois’ position as a leader in clean transportation.”
Muhammed Patel, an advocate with the Natural Resources Defense Council, a member of the Illinois Clean Energy Coalition, said support for the bill supports market certainty for zero-emission vehicles in Illinois and the economic benefits associated with establishing an EV industry. The framework was set as a policy that provides benefits. Rather than trying to stop using liquid fuels.
“This will take time, but it will allow considerable flexibility to meet regulations. That way, even if new car sales are completely zero-emissions, there will still be a lot of gasoline left in 2035 and beyond.” There will be cars, fossil fuel-powered cars or internal combustion engines on the roads,” Patel said in an interview.
Opponents include numerous business interests, including the Chamber of Commerce, the trucking industry, the petrochemical industry, and auto dealers.
Agricultural groups such as the Illinois Corn Growers Association are also registered as opponents.
A spokesperson for the corn producer did not respond to an email requesting comment.
But Renewable Fuels Association CEO Jeff Cooper said in an emailed statement that reducing emissions from transportation is important, and low-carbon fuels are being considered in states like Minnesota and Michigan. He said he prefers policies such as the standards to California’s advanced clean car standards, which are being proposed in Illinois.
“Instead of mandating electric vehicles that are not truly ‘zero-emissions’ given their upstream generation, states should take a market-based, technology-neutral approach to carbon reduction,” Cooper said. Ta.
The group said the low-carbon fuel standard considers “carbon impacts across the life cycle of fuels and vehicles, without picking technology winners and losers” and “provides a more effective and affordable way to decarbonize.” “We will provide a consumer-friendly path” to consumers.
“Setting the bar” in Michigan
Like Minnesota and Illinois, clean energy advocates in Michigan are pushing to pick up where they left off last fall, when lawmakers passed a sweeping clean energy bill with steps to reduce tailpipe pollution. Are expected.
There, legislation was introduced last spring that would establish clean transportation standards and require a 25 percent reduction in the carbon intensity of transportation fuels by 2035.
Jane McCurry is executive director of Clean Fuels Michigan, a coalition of more than 60 companies supporting the bill, including electric utilities, automakers, environmental groups, charging station providers, and agricultural and biofuel companies. It is.
McCurry said he expects the bill, Senate Bill 275, and a companion bill introduced in the House last fall, to be heard in committee before the end of the year.
Like Minnesota, Michigan’s clean transportation standards aim to regulate the carbon intensity of fuels, not vehicles.
“The idea is to set a standard with a carbon intensity standard to determine which fuels get the incentive,” she said. “So that standard will be lowered over time to reduce transportation emissions across the state, regardless of what fuel is in the vehicle.”