Outlook strong for Kern renewable fuels even as feds OK state's accelerated plan for electrifying heavy trucks

Mar. 31—Federal authorities granted California permission Friday to impose ambitious electrification deadlines on heavy-duty truck manufacturers, a move seen as advancing air quality and climate goals without necessarily setting back efforts in Kern to boost production of transitional fuels like renewable diesel and biomethane.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency formally allowed the Newsom administration to move forward with its plan to require that 40 percent of all new tractor-trailers sold in the state emit no exhaust by 2035, along with 55 percent of small truck and delivery van sales and 75 percent of new buses and larger trucks. By 2045, all such trucks sold in the state are to be zero-emission, wherever feasible.

Challenges remain: Skeptics question the costs involved and wonder whether sufficient charging or hydrogen fueling stations will arrive in time, and Republican attorneys general in 17 states are challenging California's ability to enforce requirements stricter than the national standard. But Gov. Gavin Newsom called Friday's announcement a transformational step likely to be imitated in other states and countries.

"This is a big deal for climate action," he said in a news release. His office noted the state has set aside more than $5 billion to help pay for the transition to cleaner trucks and buses.

The move carries special significance in Kern. Besides being a growing distribution hub that already suffers from poor air quality attributable partly to truck exhaust, county leaders are looking to production of renewable fuels as a potential economic driver that can help replace jobs and revenue lost as local oil and gas production continues to decline.

The California Air Resources Board, whose policies led to the waiver request from the EPA, emphasized Friday it sees demand growing for the kind of low-carbon fuels being produced in increasing quantities in Kern, like biodiesel, renewable diesel and renewable natural gas.

Not only can they aid in production of electricity and hydrogen, a CARB spokesman noted by email, but renewable fuels will be needed to support hard-to-decarbonize transportation sectors like aviation, locomotives and marine.

He noted as well that legacy fleets will remain on the road for years after new vehicle sales transition to zero-emission power.

"Our regulations are not a ban, they are a phase-out over decades," spokesman Dave Clegern wrote.

President and CEO Jennifer Haley of Kern Energy, a local producer of low-carbon fuels that plans to start refining 100-percent renewable diesel by the end of this year, noted by email Friday that the state requires a robust mix of fuels and technologies because there can be no sudden transition to zero-emission heavy trucks.

What's needed, she said, is to remain nimble and leverage existing infrastructure and talent.

"There is no better place than Kern County — as the state's leading energy producer — to demonstrate how California can move forward in a way that achieves our climate goals while continuing to ensure energy reliability and affordability," Haley wrote.

A spokeswoman for the county's largest renewable diesel project, an oil refinery conversion along Rosedale Highway being carried out by Global Clean Energy Holdings Inc., said by email Friday the state's climate goals require an "all-of-the-above strategy as we work to decarbonize our economy and environment."

Spokeswoman Amanda DeRosier added that the Long Beach-based company is seeing "ample demand" for renewable diesel among users in stationary, industrial and transportation sectors as they look to transition away from fossil fuels.

A spokeswoman for the San Joaquin Valley Air Pollution Control District said by email Friday that addressing emissions from big trucks will be critical to meeting federal clean-air standards locally.

But doing so will also require state and federal money to accelerate deployment of zero-emission heavy trucks to "ensure that the valley's trucking operations, particularly small fleets, are able to comply with the new regulations," spokeswoman Jaime Holt said.