{"id":4939,"date":"2013-09-05T16:49:59","date_gmt":"2013-09-05T16:49:59","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/energyexchange\/?p=4939"},"modified":"2013-09-05T19:40:55","modified_gmt":"2013-09-05T19:40:55","slug":"seeing-green-emission-reducing-fuel-policies-help-lower-gas-prices","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/energyexchange\/2013\/09\/05\/seeing-green-emission-reducing-fuel-policies-help-lower-gas-prices\/","title":{"rendered":"Seeing Green: Emission Reducing Fuel Policies Help Lower Gas Prices"},"content":{"rendered":"

This commentary originally appeared on EDF’s California Dream 2.0 blog<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n

By: Tim O’Connor and Shira Silver<\/p>\n

Californians struggling with high gas prices should feel optimistic about the future.\u00a0 A\u00a0new memo<\/a>\u00a0by economists from EDF and Chuck Mason, a prominent economist at the University of Wyoming, demonstrates that policies established to reduce emissions and help the state reach its climate change goals also help to arm consumers at the pump.<\/strong><\/p>\n

The\u00a0Low Carbon Fuel Standard<\/a>,\u00a0cap and trade,<\/a>\u00a0and other complementary policies such as Governor Brown\u2019s Zero Emission Vehicle program and national Renewable Portfolio Standards seek to integrate lower or zero-carbon fuels into the energy market in an effort to reduce greenhouse gas pollution.<\/p>\n

As our memo explains, in California these efforts also help to increase the market share for alternative, lower-carbon fuels. Between now and 2020, alternatives may grow to occupy between 15 and 24 percent of the market, creating new jobs and addressing the large market share that oil companies have in California.<\/p>\n

Currently\u00a0six oil companies control 94 percent of the fuels market<\/a>\u00a0in California. Through a set of mergers and other factors they have developed a strong lock on fuel in the state, and more specifically on consumers\u2019 pocketbooks at the pump.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

When alternative fuels enter the market, however, and establish themselves collectively as a \u2018competitive fringe\u2019 sector in the market, they could reach almost a quarter of the fuel market for cars and trucks. They have the potential to displace up to 3.7 billion gallons of gasoline a year.<\/p>\n

Figure 1. Alternative fuels 2020 projections and market share<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
\n

Alternative Fuel Type<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

Year 2020 Projected Volume<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

Volume of displaced gallons of gasoline in California in 2020 (per year)<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

% of fuel market share of cars and trucks in CA in 2020 (gasoline and diesel)<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

\n

Natural Gas-cars<\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

95 MM therms sold<\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

76 million<\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

.5%<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

\n

Natural Gas-trucks<\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

15-35% new heavy duty trucks<\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

199 million -221 million<\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

1.3-1.5%<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

\n

Biofuel-ethanol<\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

1.6 billion-2.4 billion gallons<\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

1.6 billion-2.4 billion<\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

10.9-16.4%<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

\n

Biofuel- biodiesel<\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

5% belend-15% blend into diesel<\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

200 million-600 million<\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

1.3-4%<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

\n

Electricity and hydrogen passenger vehicles<\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

500,000-1,000,000 vehicles on the road<\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

160.5 million-321 million<\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

1-2%<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

<\/td>\n\n

\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

Total displaced gallons of gasoline:<\/strong><\/p>\n

2.3 billion-3.7 billion per year<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

Market share of alternative fuels:<\/strong><\/p>\n

15-24%<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

With increased consumer choice from options such as natural gas vehicles, biodiesel and electric cars \u2013 overall consumer choice goes up and prices go down.\u00a0 This healthier market would result in fewer price spikes at the pump, and a more sustainable transportation system.<\/p>\n

For the sake of our pocketbooks, we must continue to foster policies that help the environment, create jobs,\u00a0spur new industries<\/a>\u00a0and reduce gas prices. Because in the end we could all use a little more green.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This commentary originally appeared on EDF’s California Dream 2.0 blog. By: Tim O’Connor and Shira Silver Californians struggling with high gas prices should feel optimistic about the future.\u00a0 A\u00a0new memo\u00a0by economists from EDF and Chuck Mason, a prominent economist at the University of Wyoming, demonstrates that policies established to reduce emissions and help the state …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":919,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[200,27601],"tags":[84841,158,27603],"coauthors":[],"class_list":["post-4939","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-california","category-electric-vehicles","tag-california","tag-emissions","tag-ev"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nSeeing Green: Emission Reducing Fuel Policies Help Lower Gas Prices - Energy Exchange<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/energyexchange\/2013\/09\/05\/seeing-green-emission-reducing-fuel-policies-help-lower-gas-prices\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Seeing Green: Emission Reducing Fuel Policies Help Lower Gas Prices - Energy Exchange\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"This commentary originally appeared on EDF’s California Dream 2.0 blog. By: Tim O’Connor and Shira Silver Californians struggling with high gas prices should feel optimistic about the future.\u00a0 A\u00a0new memo\u00a0by economists from EDF and Chuck Mason, a prominent economist at the University of Wyoming, demonstrates that policies established to reduce emissions and help the state ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/energyexchange\/2013\/09\/05\/seeing-green-emission-reducing-fuel-policies-help-lower-gas-prices\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Energy Exchange\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2013-09-05T16:49:59+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2013-09-05T19:40:55+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Tim O'Connor\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Tim O'Connor\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.edf.org\\\/energyexchange\\\/2013\\\/09\\\/05\\\/seeing-green-emission-reducing-fuel-policies-help-lower-gas-prices\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.edf.org\\\/energyexchange\\\/2013\\\/09\\\/05\\\/seeing-green-emission-reducing-fuel-policies-help-lower-gas-prices\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Tim O'Connor\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.edf.org\\\/energyexchange\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/07ed5852e30b31400a51d0a941e7479a\"},\"headline\":\"Seeing Green: Emission Reducing Fuel Policies Help Lower Gas Prices\",\"datePublished\":\"2013-09-05T16:49:59+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2013-09-05T19:40:55+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.edf.org\\\/energyexchange\\\/2013\\\/09\\\/05\\\/seeing-green-emission-reducing-fuel-policies-help-lower-gas-prices\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":440,\"commentCount\":0,\"keywords\":[\"California\",\"emissions\",\"EV\"],\"articleSection\":[\"California\",\"Electric Vehicles\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.edf.org\\\/energyexchange\\\/2013\\\/09\\\/05\\\/seeing-green-emission-reducing-fuel-policies-help-lower-gas-prices\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.edf.org\\\/energyexchange\\\/2013\\\/09\\\/05\\\/seeing-green-emission-reducing-fuel-policies-help-lower-gas-prices\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.edf.org\\\/energyexchange\\\/2013\\\/09\\\/05\\\/seeing-green-emission-reducing-fuel-policies-help-lower-gas-prices\\\/\",\"name\":\"Seeing Green: Emission Reducing Fuel Policies Help Lower Gas Prices - Energy Exchange\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.edf.org\\\/energyexchange\\\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2013-09-05T16:49:59+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2013-09-05T19:40:55+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.edf.org\\\/energyexchange\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/07ed5852e30b31400a51d0a941e7479a\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.edf.org\\\/energyexchange\\\/2013\\\/09\\\/05\\\/seeing-green-emission-reducing-fuel-policies-help-lower-gas-prices\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.edf.org\\\/energyexchange\\\/2013\\\/09\\\/05\\\/seeing-green-emission-reducing-fuel-policies-help-lower-gas-prices\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.edf.org\\\/energyexchange\\\/2013\\\/09\\\/05\\\/seeing-green-emission-reducing-fuel-policies-help-lower-gas-prices\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.edf.org\\\/energyexchange\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Seeing Green: Emission Reducing Fuel Policies Help Lower Gas Prices\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.edf.org\\\/energyexchange\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.edf.org\\\/energyexchange\\\/\",\"name\":\"Energy Exchange\",\"description\":\"Accelerating the clean energy revolution\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.edf.org\\\/energyexchange\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.edf.org\\\/energyexchange\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/07ed5852e30b31400a51d0a941e7479a\",\"name\":\"Tim O'Connor\",\"description\":\"Tim O\u2019Connor is a Senior Director and Senior Attorney in EDF\u2019s Energy program. 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