By Lloyd Ritter, Esq., Director, Green Capitol LLC
Special to The Digest
The aviation industry is currently responsible for less than 3% of total global carbon emissions, according to the International Energy Agency (IEA). But with air travel expected to increase by more than 60 percent (compared to pre-pandemic 2019 levels) by mid-century,[1] emissions will continue rising unless changes are made.
The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) expects overall transportation carbon emissions will rise through 2050. Fuel consumption will increase because anticipated energy efficiency gains will not keep pace with increased travel, per EIA. Cost-effective, high-energy-density renewable fuels will remain an important option to decarbonize transportation – especially aviation – in the near-term.
by Lloyd Ritter (Green Capitol LLC/Biofuels Digest) The aviation industry is currently responsible for less than 3% of total global carbon emissions, according to the International Energy Agency (IEA). But with air travel expected to increase by more than 60 percent (compared to pre-pandemic 2019 levels) by mid-century,[1] emissions will continue rising unless changes are made.
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Administration officials including Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm and Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack as well as Rep. Julia Brownley (D-CA) are highlighting aviation as an important future market for advanced biofuels. Based on experience with the Renewable Fuel Standard, though, policy makers need to be clear that sustainable aviation fuels (SAF) will reduce carbon emissions. To incentivize those carbon reductions, federal policies must incorporate up-to-date, science-based assessments that assure stakeholders of sustainability.
May 19, 2021
A groundbreaking collaboration with one of the world’s largest producers of lithium will yield critical insights into the lithium production process and how it relates to environmental sustainability.
Evaporation ponds at SQM’s lithium mining site in the Salar de Atacama, in Chile. (Image by SQM.)
As lithium is increasingly seen as a critical ingredient for more environmentally friendly products, particularly in the area of transportation, a new groundbreaking public-private collaboration will yield critical insights into the lithium production process and how it relates to long-term environmental sustainability.
SQM, a Chilean company that is one of the world’s biggest producers of lithium, and the U.S. Department of Energy’s Argonne National Laboratory, a leading scientific research institution located just outside Chicago, Illinois, have announced a collaboration that will study SQM’s process for producing lithium with an eye toward better understand
by Chris Clayton (DTN Progressive Farmer) After renewable biofuels appeared to be effectively shut out of President Joe Biden’s plan for infrastructure, leaders in the ethanol industry and their advocates on Capitol Hill are trying to make the case that biofuels can accelerate moves to a low-carbon economy.
In a briefing Friday to congressional staff and journalists, staff from the Renewable Fuels Association (RFA) laid out an aggressive policy agenda that first began with requiring the EPA to reestablish its focus on the Renewable Fuels Standard by rejecting refiner exemption requests; restore 500 million gallons of biofuel use from 2016; finalize blend volumes for both 2021 and 2022; and ensure biofuel blend volumes continue to grow after 2022. At the same time, RFA is calling for the adoption of a national low-carbon fuels standard (LCFS) that would require a reduction in average carbon intensity on an annual basis across the transportation sector.
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