Cleaning Plastic Waste From The Pacific

"After a series of setbacks, a system for catching plastic floating in the Pacific between California and Hawaii is now working." "[T]he floating boom is skimming up waste ranging in size from a discarded net and a car wheel complete with tire to chips of plastic measuring just 1 millimeter."

It is estimated that between 600,000 and 800,000 metric tons of fishing gear is abandoned or lost during storms each year in the oceans, according to the Trash Free Seas Program at Ocean Conservancy, a nonprofit environmental advocacy group.

Another 9 million tons (8 million metric tons) of plastic waste, including plastic bottles, bags, toys and other items, flow annually into the ocean from beaches, rivers and creeks, according to experts.

"SunLine Transit Demonstrates Excellence in Zero Emission Transit:

From the Alternative Fuels Data Center:

Building an Alternative Fuel Fleet
Headquartered in Thousand Palms, California, SunLine Transit Agency (SunLine) provides public transit services to California’s Coachella Valley. Of the 143 medium- and heavy-duty buses in SunLine’s fleet, all operate on alternative fuels, including 123 compressed natural gas (CNG) buses, 16 fuel cell electric buses, and four battery electric buses.

SunLine has a long history of demonstrating alternative fuels. A 1993 SunLine policy set a requirement that all vehicles purchased by 2040 must be ultra-low- or zero-emission vehicles. The company responded quickly. “In 1994, our transit agency was the nation’s first to switch from diesel buses to an entire fleet of CNG [compressed natural gas] buses,” said Tommy Edwards, Chief Performance Officer at SunLine. “We had a depleted fleet to replace, so the policy came at the right time.” Shortly after, SunLine became involved with the Clean Cities Coachella Valley Region (C3VR) coalition, a relationship that remains intact decades later. In fact, Richard Cromwell III, previously the general manager and chief executive officer of SunLine, is now the C3VR coordinator.

“C3VR spent 20 years supporting the alternative fuel program at SunLine, and Lauren Skiver, the current general manager at SunLine, is taking it to the next level,” Cromwell said.

“Our team gets excited about trying a new fuel or technology,” Skiver said, explaining SunLine’s entrepreneurial spirit as something that sets the transit agency apart from others. “Part of our success stems from having different propulsion systems and vehicles from multiple original equipment manufacturers [OEMs] on the property. That’s a new approach for transit agencies, which typically have one OEM and one fuel type.”

Aligning Fuels with Goals and Operations
“Our main business is transporting people across the valley. We don’t lose sight of that when we’re evaluating fuels,” Edwards said. SunLine runs some dense city routes; however, the service area covers 1,100 square miles and includes nine member cities. “The current range capabilities for battery electric buses aren’t sufficient for the majority of our routes, and on-route demand charging infrastructure would be difficult and impractical to get in place,” he said. As such, SunLine uses different fuels and chooses the appropriate fuel based on the duty cycle.

In addition to considering routes, SunLine evaluates technologies based on commercialization, cost, and fuel availability. “We’re not bent on one fuel over the other; our ultimate goal is near-zero or zero-emission technologies,” Edwards said. “We look at hydrogen because it has zero emissions, as well as battery electric, and renewable natural gas paired with low-NOx [nitrogen oxide] engines. These technologies continue to drive advancement.”

One way a fleet can take the necessary steps to meet emissions targets is to look at the end goal and work backwards to identify the right fuel or fuels. “The path to our goal is based on the commercialization of zero-emission technologies,” Edwards said.

Additionally, gathering sufficient operations data is key to figuring out what fuel works for a fleet. Edwards recommends that a pilot project for a fuel or technology include around five to 10 buses to determine whether the technology really works in a fleet’s operations.

Assembling a Team and a Bus
“At every stage of fuel cell electric bus implementation, partners are essential,” Skiver said. “We need someone to pay for it, build it, and run it, as well as the board to support it and eventually customers to ride in it. We approach the demonstration as a science project, prepared for failures, adjustments, and redevelopments.”

With regulation guiding SunLine’s transition to zero-emission fuels, the company sought incentives to cover the price differential for new alternative fuel vehicles and infrastructure. “We raise our hands for many opportunities,” Edwards said. SunLine received grants from the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Transit Administration (FTA) and the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) to demonstrate fuel cell electric buses and develop hydrogen infrastructure, as well as state grants from the California Air Resources Board and local funding from the South Coast Air Quality Management District.

Since the beginning, SunLine’s engineering, production, and operations teams have collaborated in an iterative process. “One of our biggest lessons learned was that we couldn’t go to an OEM and buy a zero-emission bus. That platform wasn’t available at the time,” Edwards said. “We had to build a fuel cell electric bus that wasn’t in production, which meant we had to prove, refine, and determine the best way to commercialize, requiring support throughout from multiple teams within the organization.”

In combination with funding and a well-rounded team, a risk-tolerant and supportive board was critical to the early success of the alternative fuel program and demonstrating fuel cell electric bus technology. “SunLine was successful in obtaining grants, and the board gave the team freedom to test technologies,” Cromwell said.

Owning Infrastructure and Sharing Experiences
“Another key factor to our success is the control of our own fuel supply and production,” Skiver said. SunLine owns and operates one hydrogen and two CNG stations that supply fuel for its vehicles, as well as the public. SunLine also produces its own hydrogen onsite, using renewable sources of power, including solar and renewable natural gas feedstock. With energy management, SunLine’s operation is comparatively inexpensive and reliable, as it is not subject to fuel delivery costs or relegated to complications with delivery, and doesn’t have to contract out fuel production or infrastructure maintenance.

The hydrogen fueling infrastructure can produce enough hydrogen to operate five full-size transit buses. “Onsite fueling is cheaper and faster,” Skiver said. “Having the fuel system on property is a particularly good alternative for transit agencies that may not have access to the required fueling infrastructure.” To facilitate hydrogen fuel cell electric bus deployment, SunLine is working with partners to develop a hydrogen fueling starter kit that allows fleets to fuel five to 10 buses onsite.

Infrastructure remains an essential element to grow the hydrogen market. “If we had to fuel our entire fleet with hydrogen that would be a big unknown,” Edwards said. “There remains lots of work to do on the infrastructure side, including determining how to scale up operations to fuel all buses overnight. As such, we continue to focus on energy management and scaling up fueling modules.”

Measuring Success
SunLine continues to evaluate fuel cell electric bus performance, working with FTA, DOE, the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, and other project partners to do so. Average data tracked from each evaluation period is available in the Alternative Fuels Data Center’s publications database and summarized at right.

In addition, SunLine is advancing infrastructure development through the SunLine West Coast Center of Excellence in Zero-Emission Technology (CoEZET), funded by FTA. SunLine leveraged its advanced technology bus and infrastructure testing to develop a center that serves as a warehouse for data and data collection and offers training for transit agencies and heavy-duty fleets. “We work together to determine how fleets can increase zero-emission technologies and share technology experiences,” Edwards said.

BAR Smog Renewal Training

College of the Desert PaCE is offering BAR Smog Renewal training for current State Licensed Technicians.

Classes will be held at the COD Campus, Diesel Mechanics Building, Room 25, Saturday from 8:00 am to 4:30 pm

Register Today!

Call 760-776-7420

Israeli Waters Are Swimming In Natural Gas

Israel has discovered such large reserves of natural gas offshore, they will be able to discontinue all use of coal in 11 years. With a population of only 8.5 million and a relatively small industrial base, Israel currently uses less than 1% of the natural gas that has been found. They will begin to deliver gas to Egypt later this year. The nation's largest coal power plant will be converted to burn natural gas in the next three years. Currently, Israel has few vehicles that operate on natural gas. Haifa has 15 garbage trucks powered by natural gas. Fifty-nine natural gas powered buses have been imported from China, with another hundred or so in the works.

The People's Car Project: Hover Car

"Visualizing U.S. Energy Use in One Giant Chart"

click for full size

"Affordable Clean Energy Rule misses chance to slash carbon emissions"

Statement of Steven Nadel, executive director, American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy

The Affordable Clean Energy Rule (ACE), announced today by the US Environmental Protection Agency, misses a large opportunity to slash carbon emissions, reduce air pollution, and save money. The rule recognizes that energy efficiency measures at power plants can reduce both carbon emissions and consumer utility bills, but it will deliver relatively few savings.

The EPA estimates it would reduce the power sector’s greenhouse gas emissions by 11 million short tons by 2030. While this may sound like a lot, it’s a small fraction of what could be saved. In fact, ACEEE analysis shows that energy efficiency policies and programs for customers could reduce power sector greenhouse gas emissions by 600 million tons by 2030, increase GDP by $17 billion, create 611,000 new jobs, and lower the average American’s utility bills — saving them twice as much as it costs to install new energy-efficient technologies.

Utilities’ efficiency programs are cleaning the grid and saving money for families and businesses. They would have saved much more under the Obama’s administration Clean Power Plan (CPP), which the ACE will replace. Even without federal backing, states should still ensure their utilities and agencies are implementing all cost-effective energy efficiency to help their families, their economy, and their environment.

Six Policies That Have Cut U.S. Energy Use By 20%

From a blog post at the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy.

• Fuel economy standards for cars, minivans, and SUVs generated the largest energy savings in 2017. They saved an estimated 9.0 quads [quadrillion BTUs]. To that add savings of 0.3 quads (ACEEE calculations) from heavy-duty vehicle standards.
• The second-largest savings, 6.0 quads, come from minimum efficiency standards on appliances and other types of energy-using equipment.
• Third on the list is the ENERGY STAR program. ENERGY STAR has operated for more than 20 years, steadily expanding its market reach and participation levels. The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) estimates that this program saved about 370 billion kilowatt-hours (kWh) of electricity in 2017, which is equivalent to 3.7 quads. EPA estimates an additional 0.5 quads of savings in direct fossil fuel use in homes, buildings, and industry, for a total of 4.2 quads of savings.
• Fourth is energy efficiency programs funded by utility customers and operated by either the utilities themselves or other entities designated by states and utilities. They help the utility and all ratepayers, because saving a kWh is generally less expensive than generating a kWh. In 2017, these programs saved about 242 billion kWh and 400 trillion BTUs of natural gas for a total of 2.7 quads.
• Federal government energy efficiency research, development, and deployment (RD&D) appears to produce a similar level of savings as utility programs, but this estimate is very uncertain.
• Building energy codes are next on the list, saving an estimated 1.5 quads in 2017. The first energy codes were developed in the 1970s, and code stringency has steadily increased since then, driven by new technologies and practices, as well consumer economics. Compared to 1980 codes, current national model building codes reduce energy use by nearly 40% (residential) to 50% (commercial).

"UPS to Cut 1 Million Metric Tons GHG with Huge Renewable Natural Gas Purchase"

From NGV Global News:

UPS has entered into an agreement with Clean Energy Fuels Corp. to purchase 170 million gallon equivalents of renewable natural gas (RNG) through 2026. This is the largest commitment for use of RNG to date by any company in the United States, with a range of 22.5 – 25 million gallon equivalents per year.

RNG is a key part of UPS’s strategy to increase alternative fuel consumption to be 40% of total ground fuel purchases by 2025, supporting the logistics leader’s efforts to reduce the absolute greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions of its ground fleet 12% by 2025.

“The world has a trash problem. And the world has an emissions problem. Renewable natural gas, produced naturally from bio sources such as landfills and dairy farms, not only turns trash to gas, but it turns it into cleangas,” said Mike Casteel, UPS director of fleet procurement. “Since RNG is supported by existing national infrastructure used to transport natural gas, it’s a winning solution that will help UPS to reach our ambitious sustainability goals. At the same time, we hope our unprecedented seven-year commitment serves as a catalyst for wider adoption of RNG by other companies.”

UPS has used more than 28 million gallons of RNG in its ground fleet since 2014. This means the company will now be using nearly as much RNG in one year as it has used over the past five years combined. By switching from diesel fuel to RNG, UPS vehicles fueling at 18 company-owned and operated natural gas stations across 12 states will realize a significant reduction in greenhouse gas emissions, as much as 1,074,000 metric tons of GHG over the life of the agreement. This is equivalent to planting 17,000,000 trees, removing 228,000 cars off the road or recycling 374,000 tons of waste that would otherwise be sent to the landfill.

UPS trucks refuel at Clean Energy stationClean Energy, co-founded by T. Boone Pickens and Clean Energy President and CEO Andrew J. Littlefair, is the exclusive provider of Redeem™ RNG, the first RNG made available in commercial quantities. According to Clean Energy, Redeem™ RNG yields at least a 70% reduction** in lifecycle greenhouse gas emissions when compared to conventional diesel or gasoline. Also known as biomethane, RNG can be derived from many abundant and renewable sources, including decomposing organic waste in landfills, wastewater treatment and agriculture. It is then distributed through the natural gas pipeline system, making it available for use as liquefied natural gas (LNG) or compressed natural gas (CNG).

“Together, UPS and Clean Energy are moving the industry forward and toward a nation of energy independence by pushing for RNG at scale,” said Tyler Henn, vice president and general manager of Clean Energy Renewables, a division of Clean Energy. “We’re excited to deliver Redeem to a partner with a substantial alternative fleet and an ongoing commitment to RNG. We’re pleased to be able to fulfill the growing demand for RNG as more fleets seek a clean, economical alternative.”

UPS Natural Gas Fleet

UPS drives more than 6,100 CNG and LNG vehicles which can be powered by RNG in Argentina, Belgium, Canada, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Thailand, the United Kingdom, and the United States. More than 22% of the conventional diesel and gasoline fuel previously used by UPS’s ground fleet is now being replaced by alternative fuels including renewable natural gas and renewable diesel. This is significant because of RNG’s staggering reduction in lifecycle greenhouse gas emissions when compared to conventional diesel.

Since 2009, UPS has invested more than $1 billion in alternative fuel and advanced technology vehicles and fueling stations globally. UPS deploys the more than 10,000 vehicles in its Rolling Lab to utilize technologies that work best depending on the needs of the delivery route. From old-fashioned pedal power and electric-assisted bicycles in dense urban areas like Seattle, London and Hamburg to electric and hybrid electric vehicles in the U.S., and natural gas, renewable natural gas and propane globally, UPS puts sustainability innovation into action, all over the world.

For more information on UPS’s sustainability initiatives, visit www.ups.com/sustainability.

** Based on weighted average carbon index of Clean Energy’s fuel supply as approved by California Air Resources Board (CARB)

Visual Capitalist has created an animated bar chart showing electric vehicle sales in the United States for 2010-19. "It paints a picture of a rapidly evolving market with many new competitors sweeping in to try and claim a stake. You can see the leads of early successes eroded away, the increasing value of scale, and consumer preferences, all rolled into one nifty animation."

EPA Research Updates

From EPA's Science Matters newsletter.

EPA Research Updates
Food waste is the single largest component of our daily trash, adding up to 133 billion pounds of food at the retail and consumer levels in the United States that go uneaten. EPA is addressing this issue through the interactive Excess Food Opportunities Map, which identifies and displays information about potential generators and recipients of excess food. The map inspired Brett Reinford, a second-generation farmer in Pennsylvania, to build a digester for his family farm that turns waste into energy.

Environmental Health Assessments (EHAs) are used to better understand the range of possible effects of environmental factors on a community’s health and wellbeing. These assessments are even more effective when researchers involve the community through citizen science. Using decades of experience conducting citizen science-based EHAs, EPA scientists have recently published a paper on advice and frequently asked questions to help other communities conduct these assessments.

What constitutes an oil spill, what effects can spills have, and how do responders clean them up? EPA researcher Robyn Conmy and on-scene coordinators Jeff Kimble and Jon Gulch joined Institute on Science for Global Policy's The Forum podcast to answer these questions and more.

EPA has awarded GreenTechnologies, LLC, with the Administrator’s Award for Outstanding Accomplishments by a Small Business. With the support of EPA’s Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program, GreenTechnologies successfully developed and commercialized a sustainable and innovative treatment and nutrient recovery process for wastewater. Their processes recover nutrients such as phosphorus, carbon and nitrogen in wastewater and convert the excess nutrients into sustainable slow-release fertilizers.

EPA is announcing a new Science to Achieve Results funding opportunity titled Chemical Mechanisms to Address New Challenges in Air Quality Modeling. Applications will be accepted through June 24, 2019. The funded research activities under this announcement are intended to improve the chemical mechanism component of air quality models relevant for ozone, particulate matter, and air toxics and ultimately advance the science underpinning air quality management strategies.

How much does each fuel type in the mobile transportation sector contribute to emissions?

Question Of The Week!

How much does each fuel type in the mobile transportation sector contribute to emissions?

For information on transportation related emissions by fuel, see the U.S. Energy Information Administration’s Transportation-related CO₂ emissions by fuel, 1990-2017 graph (figure 5). This graph provides CO₂ emissions by year for motor gasoline, diesel, jet fuel, and all other fuels. The emissions from each of these fuel types as of 2017 is below:

• Motor Gasoline: 1,099 million metric tons of CO₂
• Diesel: 451 million metric tons of CO₂
• Jet Fuel: 247 million metric tons of CO₂
• All Other Fuels: 105 million metric tons of CO₂

In addition, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Inventory of U.S. Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Emissions and Sinks includes data on fossil fuel combustion by sector, including transportation, and by fuel type on pages 3-6 and 3-9. Specifically, 42.3 million metric tons of CO₂ were emitted in 2017 from transportation sector use of natural gas.

You may also be interested in the EPA GHG Inventory Data Explorer, which provides information on how transportation contributes to overall emissions. As is mentioned on this page, the Data Explorer is an interactive tool that provides access to data from EPA's annual Inventory of U.S. GHG Emissions and Sinks. You can follow the instructions on the right and use the options to create customized graphs, examine trends over time, and download the data. Note that the data currently only goes through 2017. Using the filters, you can see that transportation emissions accounted for 29% of overall emissions in 2017. You may also be interested in EPA's Transportation Sector Emissions website for an overview of transportation emissions.

Action Alert from the Coalition For Clean Air

Help us get California SB 210 off the Senate floor! Contact your Senator today!

California SB 210, by Senator Connie Leyva (D-Chino) is an important opportunity to prevent thousands of tons of harmful pollutants emitted into our air by heavy-duty diesel trucks.

SB 210 establishes emissions-control inspection and maintenance requirements for diesel trucks weighing more than 14,000 pounds, bringing the hundreds of thousands of these big-rigs on California’s roads closer in line with the smog-check requirements imposed on passenger vehicles since 1984.

Contact your California State Senator and urge them to vote yes on SB 210 today!

VOTE YES ON SB 210 (Leyva)

CLEAN TRUCKS, CLEAN AIR:
SMOG CHECK FOR HEAVY-DUTY VEHICLES

Problem:

• Heavy-duty trucks currently do not have a comprehensive inspection and maintenance requirement like the Smog Check program for cars
• Many heavy-duty vehicles operate with malfunctioning emissions controls, leading to emissions that are up to almost 10 times engine certification standards
• Heavy-duty diesel trucks operating in California account for 82% of diesel particulate matter (PM 2.5), a carcinogenic and toxic air contaminant, and 58% of the harmful oxides of nitrogen (NOx) emissions from mobile sources
• Over 90 percent of Californians live in areas impacted by unhealthy air, and the transportation sector is by far the leading source.
  
  

Solution – SB 210 would:

• Establish a Heavy-Duty Vehicle Inspections and Maintenance Program to ensure timely repairs that are needed to reduce emissions of harmful pollutants
• Level the playing field for law- abiding truck owners and operators by requiring multiple state agencies to collaborate on an enforceable system
• Build in legislative oversight and accountability.

TAKE ACTION

Greenhouse Gases, Regulated Emissions, and Energy Use in Transportation (GREET)

The Greenhouse Gases, Regulated Emissions, and Energy Use in Transportation (GREET) model is a tool that examines the life-cycle impacts of vehicle technologies, fuels, products, and energy systems. It provides a transparent platform through which energy and vehicle producers, researchers, and regulators can evaluate energy and environmental effects of vehicle technologies and energy and product systems.

GREET development and applications are an integral part of the mission of the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE). In addition to the Bioenergy Technologies Office (BETO), EERE’s other Sustainable Transportation Offices, the Vehicle Technologies Office and the Fuel Cell Technologies Office, use GREET.

Through BETO funded projects, the Argonne National Laboratory (ANL) GREET Team develops a consistent model to advance understanding of sustainability of biofuels, bioproducts, and biopower, and produces high-quality, peer-reviewed analyses. Continually updated by researchers at ANL, GREET provides reliable calculations of life-cycle energy and emissions related to transportation, and accounts for a wide range of conventional and emerging energy systems and vehicle technologies.

More about GREET.

New NGVAmerica Collaterals

NGVAmerica is proud to share with you two recent collaterals it has developed to highlight the many benefits and trends in natural gas use in transportation.

The larger four-panel “Natural Gas is Now” document details NGV’s variety of criteria pollutant and greenhouse gas emission, cost-effectiveness, public health, and sustainability benefits. The second document – released last month in conjunction with the Coalition for Renewable Natural Gas – details the increasing use of RNG, or biomethane, within the natural gas transportation space, realizing unprecedented carbon reduction achievements over the last five years.

Please feel free to utilize both documents in your work with regional fleets, and know that NGVAmerica staff members are always able and interested in partnering with you in your initiatives.

RNG Driving Down Emissions

Natural Gas is Now

"Earth Day since the 70s: A founder's tale"

The American Council for an Energy-Efficient America has published this history of Earth Day.

April 17, 2019
By Kate Doughty

In 1970, headbands were in, Simon & Garfunkel topped the charts, and Denis Hayes, a graduate student at Harvard, read about a fledgling environmental movement. Determined to volunteer, he flew to Washington, DC, with the intention of organizing Earth Day at Harvard. Instead, he became the organizer for Earth Day across the entire United States.

Inspired by the role of teach-ins in anti-war and civil rights protests, US Senator Gaylord Nelson started the Earth Day movement as a “national teach-in on the environment.” The movement swiftly gained popularity, and today Earth Day is celebrated in more than 190 countries.

We sat down with Denis Hayes to discuss the first 49 years of Earth Day, the evolution of the movement, and how energy—and efficiency—play a huge role in climate action and a sustainable future.

What was it like to be the national coordinator of the first Earth Day?

It was like riding a Tesla with the pedal to the floor. The acceleration was from zero to 1,000 in a matter of months. Early community meetings often had fewer than a dozen people. But April 22, we had 20 million participants, with more than one million in Manhattan alone!

My hope—in some large measure realized—was that Americans would come to see that they had a “right” to a clean, healthy environment, and that the law would guarantee that. The first Earth Day was passionate and intense, and it led directly to a wave of change. Clean Air Act. Clean Water Act. Endangered Species Act. Marine Mammal Protection Act. EPA and NOAA. Superfund. On and on.

What role have energy and energy efficiency played in Earth Day over the past 49 years?

Energy has been at the core of much of what Earth Day has sought to achieve over the decades. (The Santa Barbara oil spill of 1969 was one of the fuses that set off Earth Day.) By seeking to internalize the real costs of acid rain in the price of electricity and steel, through CAFE (Corporate Average Fuel Economy) regulations of automobile fuel efficiency, by promotion of LED lights and super-efficient refrigerators and high-efficiency heat pumps, etc., we’ve tried to envision a comfortable life requiring vastly less energy. We have made clear that a healthy environment does not involve living in caves and reading by candle light.

In the Carter Administration, I headed SERI (since renamed NREL [National Renewable Energy Laboratory]), which housed the most advanced renewable energy research effort on the planet. SERI’s Assistant Director for Policy, ACEEE champion Henry Kelly, was responsible for compiling the strategy to reach President Jimmy Carter’s goal of obtaining 20% of the nation’s energy from solar by the year 2000. Although this was definitely a challenge, it was plausible only because the heart of the proposal was radical improvements to the nation’s energy efficiency.

Had we stayed on that path, we could have avoided the climate crisis comparatively cheaply and painlessly. Henry’s team included Art Rosenfeld, Bob Williams, Jeff Harris, David Goldstein, Frank von Hippel, Charles Gray, and many others who have played prominent roles at ACEEE over the years.

How would you describe the diversity, or lack thereof, of the environmental movement since 1970?

The first Earth Day, and the environmental movement in general, has been largely powered by women. Women constitute most of the members of local, state, and national environmental groups.

Racial and ethnic diversity has historically been more iffy. On that first Earth Day, we had African-American groups protesting plans to plow freeways through their dynamic inner-city neighborhoods. But the big crowds were overwhelmingly white and middle class. If you were a poor person of color, you had a lot of other problems and not a lot of extra time. So although the poor have always suffered the worst environmental conditions, only in times of true crisis have they tended to include the environment near the top of their priorities.

The environmental groups themselves were part of the problem. They all raised most of their money through direct mail. Poor people tended to respond to personal requests, not direct mail, so they weren’t on the mailing lists that were traded and sold. Groups tended to emphasize the issues that got the great mail response, so they wound up emphasizing issues that appealed to middle-class, college-educated white people. This is despite the fact that black and Latinx people and Asian & Pacific Islanders often respond very affirmatively to various environmental issues and are consistent sources of support for parks and other environmental ballot issues.

This is improving. There are strong, young environmental justice and climate justice groups carving out their own space. And mainstream groups have, for a couple of decades, been diversifying their boards, their staffs, and memberships. But there remains a long way to go.

Are recent dire reports about climate change adding an urgency to Earth Day?

It is already far too late to avoid many of the ravages of climate change—intense storms, forest fires, droughts, etc. The question today is whether we—and the entire rest of the world—can make a swift enough transition to the ultra-efficient use of 100% renewables to avoid tipping points where climate cycles produce feedback loops that are self-reinforcing, like wide-scale emissions from warming methane hydrates. That will be an enormously heavy lift; some would say it is highly improbable, if not impossible. If we are to stand a chance, the Earth Day campaign for 2020 must recapture all the intensity of those first few years.

Renewable Fuel Standard Reduces GHG Emissions 600-million Tons

The Renewable Fuels Association announced a new study on the effects of RFS2.

A new study released [in February 2019] finds that the expanded Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS2) has been a tremendous success in reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, with nearly 600 million metric tons of GHG reduction since 2007. Actual GHG reductions under the RFS2 have far surpassed the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) original expectations of 422 million metric tons, according to the study. The analysis was conducted by Life Cycle Associates, a California-based scientific consulting firm, and commissioned by the Renewable Fuels Foundation (RFF).

The findings, which come as two House committees hold climate change hearings this morning, highlight the important role that ethanol and other biofuels can play in efforts to fight climate change and reduce GHG emissions.

“The RFS2 has resulted in significant GHG reductions, with cumulative CO2 savings of 600 million metric tonnes over the period of implementation,” according to the study. “The GHG reductions are due to the greater than expected savings from ethanol and other biofuels. These emissions savings occur even though cellulosic biofuels have not met the RFS2 production targets. Biofuels have achieved and exceeded the GHG reductions estimated by EPA.”

As outlined in the report, the larger-than-expected GHG reductions are due to:

• The adoption of technology improvements in the production of corn-based ethanol, resulting in far greater GHG reductions than originally estimated by EPA;
• The GHG emissions of petroleum are higher than the baseline estimates originally projected by EPA; and
• Advanced biofuels like biodiesel, renewable diesel, and renewable natural gas have contributed additional GHG reductions, even though actual cellulosic biofuel production has been lower than initially projected.

Using the latest available data and modeling tools, the study found that the conventional ethanol consumed in 2018 reduced GHG emissions by 43 percent compared to petroleum, even when hypothetical “land use change” are included. That compares to EPA’s initial projections that conventional ethanol would achieve only a 20 percent GHG reduction versus petroleum.

“As this study demonstrates, renewable fuels like ethanol are an incredibly effective tool for reducing GHG emissions,” said Geoff Cooper, President and CEO of the Renewable Fuels Association (RFA). “And with renewable fuels, we don’t need to cross our fingers and wait for the development and commercialization of a new technology. Ethanol is available here and now to help our nation decarbonize our transportation fuels in a cost effective manner. As the new Congress turns its focus to climate change and efforts to reduce GHG emissions, we encourage lawmakers to recognize and build upon the incredible success of the RFS.”

The 600 million metric tons of GHG reduction achieved under the RFS is equivalent to the GHG savings that would result from removing roughly half of the nation’s automobiles from the road for a full year or shutting down 154 coal-fired power plants for a year, according to EPA.

A copy of the study is available here.

AFLEET

AFLEET is Alternative Fuel Life-Cycle Environmental and Economic Transportation tool.

The Department of Energy's Technology Integration Program has enlisted the expertise of Argonne to develop a tool to examine both the environmental and economic costs and benefits of alternative fuel and advanced vehicles (AFVs). Argonne developed the Alternative Fuel Life-Cycle Environmental and Economic Transportation (AFLEET) Tool to help stakeholders estimate petroleum use, greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, air pollutant emissions, and cost of ownership of light-duty and heavy-duty vehicles.

AFLEET includes...

• The AFLEET spreadsheet that provides detailed energy, emission, and cost data for light- and heavy-duty AFVs. It has the following 4 calculators depending on the users goals:
  • Simple Payback
  • Total Cost of Ownership
  • Idle Reduction
• AFLEET Online, which replicates the spreadsheet’s Simple Payback Calculator with a user-friendly interface and analyzes the following metrics:
  • Petroleum use
  • Greenhouse gas emissions
  • Air pollutant emissions
  • Simple payback
• The Heavy Duty Vehicle Emissions Calculator (HDVEC), which is an AFLEET-based online tool that compares NOx, PM, GHGs and funding cost-effectiveness of environmental mitigation projects for the following fuel types:
  • Diesel
  • Electric
  • Natural Gas
  • Propane

Alberta's Tar Sands

The National Geographic presents an article on the tar sands operations in Alberta, the "world's largest industrial project."

“Canada wants to be a climate champion,” says Kevin Taft, author and former leader of the Liberal Party in Alberta. “At the same time, it wants to increase its oil exports.”

The fact that Canada, with a progressive Liberal Party government and Alberta’s quasi-socialist New Democratic Party government, are both desperate to have it both ways reveals the immense power of the oil industry, says Taft, whose most recent book is titled Oil’s Deep State: How the Petroleum Industry Undermines Democracy and Stops Action on Global Warming—in Alberta, and in Ottawa.

"The first picture of a black hole opens a new era of astrophysics"

Science News reports on the first photograph of a black hole.

“We have seen what we thought was unseeable. We have seen and taken a picture of a black hole,” Sheperd Doeleman, EHT Director and astrophysicist at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics in Cambridge, Mass., said April 10 in Washington, D.C., at one of seven concurrent news conferences. The results were also published in six papers in the Astrophysical Journal Letters.

“We’ve been studying black holes so long, sometimes it’s easy to forget that none of us have actually seen one,” France Córdova, director of the National Science Foundation, said in the Washington, D.C., news conference. Seeing one “is a Herculean task,” she said.

"American natural gas is improving the air"

An opinion piece by Todd Staples, President of the Texas Oil and Gas Association:

The U.S. shale revolution, propelled by unprecedented production in Texas, has elevated the United States as the world’s top oil and natural gas producer. While much attention is paid to the indisputable benefits of job growth, domestic energy security and global stability, another life-changing achievement receives far less coverage: American natural gas is making the air cleaner at home and around the world.

The U.S. not only leads in energy production, but our nation also leads the world in emission reductions – while helping other countries improve their air.

Natural gas, now America’s leading source of electricity generation, is credited with driving U.S. carbon-dioxide emissions to their lowest levels since 1992. The U.S. Global Change Research Program reports that North American CO2 emissions from fossil fuel combustion have declined on average by 1 percent per year over the last decade, “largely because of reduced reliance on coal, greater use of natural gas, and increased vehicle fuel efficiency standards.”

Natural gas operators are poised to play a key role in future environmental progress through continued aggressive and innovative efforts to reduce methane emissions. So far, these efforts, driven by billions of dollars invested in advanced technologies, have led to an approximately 14 percent reduction in methane emissions from oil and natural gas systems since 1990. Domestic natural gas production increased by 50 percent during the same period. Simply put, production is up and emissions are down – an incredible achievement.

Meanwhile, CO2 emissions around the globe increased 50 percent since 1990. Fortunately, help in improving air quality around the world is on the way, as the U.S. could more than double its natural gas export capacity in the next year, according to U.S. Energy Information Administration

Just as it has in the United States, expanded use of natural gas is improving air quality elsewhere. As China transitioned more of its power generation to natural gas, the country benefitted from a 33 percent decrease in air pollution from a year earlier across Beijing, Tianjin and 26 surrounding cities, according to a report by Greenpeace East Asia. Pollution levels in Beijing alone dropped 54 percent, according to the report.

Texas leaders like Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner recognize the role exported LNG will make toward continued environmental progress. In a letter in support of a proposed LNG export terminal and pipeline project, Mayor Turner demonstrated his leadership and understanding that expanded energy infrastructure in Texas will enable “developed and emerging markets around the world to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.”

Our nation and our trading partners are realizing this tremendous progress because of hydraulic fracturing, more commonly known as fracking. This safe, proven technique has unleashed vast reserves of oil and natural gas that are quite literally changing the world. The abundant and affordable supply of clean burning natural gas is a global game changer and Texas producers are the pacesetters. America is more secure, the world is more stable, and the air is cleaner because of fracking.

As countries around the world grow their economies and demand more energy and a better way of life, American natural gas is poised to be part of the solution – both for the environment and the global economy.

Todd Staples was formerly Texas Agriculture Commissioner.