DAVIS, Calif. – As the Obama administration tries to address 2015 requirements for renewable fuels, it must consider the efficiency and process improvements that are taking place at existing U.S. biorefineries, according to a new study released last week by the Institute of Transportation Studies at UC Davis (ITS-Davis).
UC Davis researchers measured the incremental changes that are occurring in the U.S. biofuels industry and discussed their relevance in advancing domestic environmental goals. The research shows that a variety of biofuel innovations are doing more today to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions than the long-sought advanced biofuels and could help speed deployment of those biofuels.
The study, “Three Routes Forward for Biofuels: Incremental, Transitional and Leapfrog,” was authored by a team of researchers at ITS-Davis’ Sustainable Transportation Energy Pathways Program (NextSTEPS).
The study identifies three routes forward for biofuels:
- An Incremental route in which small improvements are made at existing biorefineries
- A Transitional route in which cellulosic “bolt-on” production and other innovations leverage existing biorefinery investments and build know-how with cellulosic materials and processes
- A Leapfrog route that focuses on major technological breakthroughs in cellulosic and algae-based pathways at new, stand-alone biorefineries.
“Together these three routes suggest a new way to think about the U.S. biofuels future, and a strategy to help achieve California’s 2020 LCFS [low carbon fuel standard] targets as well as national ones,” writes Fulton. “To the extent that RFS revisions recognize these routes and encourage Incremental GHG reductions at existing biorefineries while leveraging Transitional investments to speed development of Leapfrog technologies, the faster that the entire U.S. biofuels system can deliver on their promised environmental performance.”
ITS-Davis partners with government, industry and non-governmental organizations to inform policy making and business decisions, and advance public discourse on key transportation, energy and environmental issues. The program’s research contributes significantly to the national dialogue on transportation. ITS-Davis founding director, Dr. Daniel Sperling, will be a keynote speaker at the upcoming Fuels Institute annual meeting November 17-19 in Huntington Beach, California.