A Proven Approach to Fuel a Low-Carbon Future

The document advocates for clean fuel standards to decarbonize the transportation sector, which is the largest source of global warming pollution in the US. It explains how these standards use carbon intensity (CI) and a credit/deficit system to make clean fuels more affordable and polluting fuels more expensive. The text highlights the California Low Carbon Fuel Standard as a successful model and emphasizes the need for an equitable transition that benefits overburdened communities.

• Transportation is the largest contributor to global warming pollution in the United States, necessitating a transition where most vehicles are electrified and remaining combustion fuels are nearly carbon neutral by 2050 to limit global temperature rise to 1.5°C or well below 2°C.
• A clean fuel standard reduces emissions by focusing accountability on the oil industry and requiring steady reductions in the carbon intensity (CI) of transportation fuels, defined as the life cycle global warming pollution per unit of energy from production to consumption.
• The policy operates via a credit and deficit system: fuels with a CI below a declining government-set ceiling generate credits, while fuels above the ceiling generate deficits. Sellers of high-CI fuels, such as gasoline and diesel, must either lower their CI or purchase credits from low-CI fuel suppliers.
• Clean fuel standards provide a mechanism for the oil industry to help fund the transition to clean energy; for example, when oil companies buy credits generated by electric cars and trucks, they contribute to the costs of moving the sector away from oil.
• To ensure equity, the transition must avoid a scenario where low-income individuals are left with older, polluting vehicles while affluent individuals move to EVs, requiring specific provisions to target electrification support toward disproportionately burdened communities.
• The California Low Carbon Fuel Standard (LCFS), established in 2009, serves as a proof of concept, resulting in a 70 percent increase in the use of low-CI alternative fuels, with significant growth in electricity, biomethane, and bio-based diesel fuels.
• In 2019, the value of LCFS credits for electricity exceeded half a billion dollars.

APA

Union of Concerned Scientists (2020). A Proven Approach to Fuel a Low-Carbon Future. https://www.ucs.org/sites/default/files/2020-11/clean-fuel-standards_0.pdf

Chicago

Union of Concerned Scientists. A Proven Approach to Fuel a Low-Carbon Future. 2020. https://www.ucs.org/sites/default/files/2020-11/clean-fuel-standards_0.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Union of Concerned Scientists |title=A Proven Approach to Fuel a Low-Carbon Future |date=November 2020 |url=https://www.ucs.org/sites/default/files/2020-11/clean-fuel-standards_0.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{unionofconcernedscientists2020proven, author = {{Union of Concerned Scientists}}, title = {{A Proven Approach to Fuel a Low-Carbon Future}}, institution = {Union of Concerned Scientists}, year = {2020}, month = nov, url = {https://www.ucs.org/sites/default/files/2020-11/clean-fuel-standards_0.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }