Mr Rendell said: “This regional effort marks the next step in Pennsylvania’s remarkable transition to a green energy economy. Low carbon fuels are being manufactured right here in Pennsylvania, creating jobs and easing our dangerous reliance on foreign oil.
“Pennsylvania’s alternative energy initiatives already have put thousands of Pennsylvanians to work and attracted millions of dollars in private investment. As Pennsylvania works closely with our northeastern neighbors to develop a standard for the entire region, we can grow our economy at the same time we protect the planet.”
A low carbon fuel standard is a market-based technologically neutral policy to reduce the average lifecycle greenhouse gas emissions of a unit of useful energy. The lifecycle concept of the greenhouse gas footprint includes all possible causes of greenhouse gas emissions, direct (on-site, internal) and indirect (off-site, external, embodied, upstream, downstream). Transportation fuels contribute about 30% of the greenhouse gas emissions in the Mid-Atlantic region.
Based on letters of intent signed a year ago, Pennsylvania and the other states have already begun preliminary work toward designing a low carbon fuel standard. The MoU is the next step, establishing a process to develop a regional framework by 2011 and examine the economic impacts of a standard programme.
Pennsylvania already is making strides in the production of lower-carbon fuels, the governor said. Starting in January, all diesel fuel sold in the state must contain at least 2% biodiesel, since in-state production capacity hit 40 million gallons a year at the end of 2008.
Under a state law, Governor Rendell signed in July 2008, as Pennsylvania capacity to produce biodiesel grows, the required percentage of biodiesel grows – reducing greenhouse gas emissions and creating jobs in the biofuels industry. Over the next decade, Pennsylvania will replace 900 million gallons of transportation fuel with locally produced alternative resources such as ethanol and biodiesel, or with fuels derived from coal liquefaction.
The governor’s signature on the memorandum coincides with the receipt of the Climate Change Advisory Committee’s Action Plan, which contains 52 recommendations that could slash Pennsylvania’s greenhouse gas emissions 36% while adding 65,000 new jobs and more than $6 billion to the economy by 2020. The Climate Change Advisory Committee, created by Act 70 of 2008, is a consortium of government, industry and environmental representatives.
