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5 Verification
Pages 74-92

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From page 74...
... , without modeling assumptions, so verification can provide useful information but may not definitively establish consequences of fuel use or policy intervention. A second objective of using verification in an LCFS could be to confirm that individual supply chain actors are meeting certain standard requirements or adopting practices that reduce GHG emissions beyond baseline values for fuel pathways.
From page 75...
... It established an aggregate compliance approach in which, if the amount of agricultural land in the United States that is eligible for growing what the RFS defines as renewable biomass stays below 402 million acres, aggregate compliance has been achieved and RIN-eligible renewable fuels are being produced with what the policy defines as renewable biomass. However, if the amount of agricultural land exceeds 402 million acres, then renewable fuel producers would need to undertake verification processes to demonstrate that renewable fuel is made from renewable biomass.
From page 76...
... In this context, EPA uses the term "land use change (LUC) " to include different types of land uses and how land cover changes to meet these uses.
From page 77...
... . Moreover, the USDA Cropland Data Layer relies on the National Land Cover Database for non-agricultural land type data, but the National Land Cover Database currently suffers from low accuracy when applied to LUC analyses.
From page 78...
... . International Land Use Change There has long been concern that demand for biofuels in the United States stemming from renewable fuel policies would lead to international agricultural expansion into forests, grasslands, and wetlands 3 Ryan et al.
From page 79...
... Conclusion 5-5: Since satellite data allow for monitoring of international land use change, it would be possible to use satellite data to monitor international land use change, support calculations of land use change impacts, and support results from economic models used to estimate international land use change GHG emissions. Recommendation 5-2: The research and policy communities should develop frameworks and methodologies for use of satellite data to characterize national and international land use change that may be in part attributable to an LCFS.
From page 80...
... Fuel Supply-Chain Emissions Verification As described previously, an objective of using verification in an LCFS could be to provide agencies implementing an LCFS with data about the state of an industry that informs parameters used in transportation fuel LCAs. Furthermore, it can reduce uncertainty in parameters used in baseline LCAs the agencies would develop, particularly for the parameters that greatly influence LCA results (e.g., soil carbon changes, methane leakage rates from natural gas infrastructure)
From page 81...
... Inclusion of soil carbon credits under the proposed Midwest Low Carbon Fuel Standard remains a topic of discussion mostly around the topic of permanency and additionality. On-farm audits can also verify whether an individual property has increased the amount of agricultural land or changed the type of crop being grown.
From page 82...
... In the U.S. RFS, EPA has pathways that are generally applicable to renewable fuels that any producer using a certain feedstock-conversion-fuel pathway can use.7 Alternatively, fuel producers can apply for individual pathway assessments to demonstrate that they are able to achieve life-cycle GHG emissions, as estimated by EPA, for a pathway that differ from the generic pathways.
From page 83...
... Inadvertent Favoring of Individual Fuels Observation of CA-LCFS, which allows for individual, company-specific fuel pathways to become eligible based on their CI, has highlighted how an LCFS policy might inadvertently or intentionally favor one fuel pathway over another. Such a concern has been raised about the LCFS because it awards CI credits for activities that could reduce transportation GHG emissions but are not directly tied to the process of selling low-carbon fuels themselves.
From page 84...
... If a default value reflects what can be achieved with emerging technologies and practices that lower emissions, a supply chain actor may lose the economic incentive to undertake certification, let alone underestimating actual emissions. One example of this situation is the previously-described incremental credits awarded under the CA-LCFS for retail EV charging.
From page 85...
... As these data become increasingly available with high-resolution and frequency, automated methods and artificial intelligence algorithms are increasingly needed to process and publish them efficiently, in a simple form to be used. Satellite data should be converted to simple tables to be compared with other available data sources for verification.
From page 86...
... Eichler Inwood and Dale (2019) state: "Nearly all of the apps we found can be characterized as "single solution" approaches that provide limited data to improve one specific aspect of efficiency -- and often sustainability -- but they are not effectively designed to integrate sustainability concerns from multiple dimensions or themes of indicators for sustainable agricultural landscapes." Ideally, the data collected to support an LCFS would be available to the public for analysis.
From page 87...
... Emerging Satellite Technologies to Support Verification of Crude Oil, Natural Gas Pathways, and Existing Emissions Models New satellite sensors can directly measure GHG emissions from oil and natural gas fields. Some selected technologies in this area include the following:  The Carbon Mapper Consortium is the first-ever public–private–nonprofit satellite collabora tive that is measuring methane and CO2 from oil and gas and other assets (waste, coal mines, dairies, etc.)
From page 88...
... 2020. How smart metering and smart charging may help a local energy community in collective self-consumption in presence of electric vehicles.
From page 89...
... 2021. Examining the Characteristics of the Cropland Data Layer in the Context of Estimating Land Cover Change.
From page 90...
... 2020. Assessing the Potential for Low-Carbon Fuel Standards as a Mode of Electric Vehicle Support.
From page 91...
... 2021. High Octane Low Carbon Fuels: The Bridge to Improve Both Gasoline and Electric Vehicles.
From page 92...
... 2020. Modeling the future California electricity grid and renewable energy integration with electric vehicles.


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