Diesel fuel retailers are pushing for change from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) with regards to its proposed greenhouse gas standards for heavy-duty trucks. Groups like NATSO, SIGMA, and NACS want a more market-oriented and technology-neutral strategy for decarbonization.
Instead of solely relying on electrification, they advocate for immediate emissions reductions through renewable diesel and biodiesel options already available in the market.
“The enormous practical and logistical challenges associated with electrifying trucks necessitate that the agency not rely entirely on a prodigious pace of heavy-duty electrification to decarbonize the trucking sector,” the organizations wrote in public comments submitted to EPA. “Instead of depending on one technology to act as a silver bullet, the agency should adopt an agnostic approach to low-carbon technologies that can deliver substantial emissions savings in the heavy-duty sector, without compromising the market’s ability to gravitate toward electrification as it becomes commercially viable and practical at scale.”
The EPA’s proposed rule for off-highway refueling locations requires dozens of fast chargers to support 25% of long-haul trucks being electric by 2032. However, the charging capacity needed at a single large truck stop would be equal to that of a small town, creating concern among fuel retailers about the feasibility and scalability of electric charging infrastructure within 10 years.
To enable a more efficient move away from petroleum alternatives and towards electric vehicles, policy incentives must align with transportation energy providers. Electric vehicle technology and associated refueling networks can continue to develop with sensible tailpipe emissions and strong incentives for renewable liquid fuels.
Fuel retailers have a proven track record of reducing carbon emissions in the commercial trucking sector with renewable diesel and biodiesel. These scalable technologies have already removed more than 18 million tons of CO2 in California alone between 2011 and 2019. Compared to petroleum-based diesel, biofuels can reduce greenhouse gas emissions by up to 75%.
To further reduce emissions, the fuel retailing sector has urged the EPA to increase the blending mandate for biodiesel and renewable diesel under the Renewable Fuel Standard and Congress to eliminate preferential treatment for sustainable aviation fuel. By prioritizing investments in currently scalable technologies that have already proven their efficacy, we can make significant strides in reducing our carbon footprint for ground transportation.
Source: CCJDigital
