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Facilitating widespread availability of electric vehicle charging infrastructure supports the President's goal of l
million electric vehicles on the road by 2015.
Developing these pathways and enabling the generation of RINs from these sources enable wider deployment of
electric vehicle charging infrastructure and promote integration of renewable power into transportation and into the
larger grid. When these sources of electricity are used to power our vehicles, the result is reduced reliance on
imported fossil fuel, stronger local and national economies and a cleaner enviromnent.
Specifically, the Company offers the following comments below.
I.
Description of the Company's Renewable Electricity and Biogas Activities and its Potential
Role in Powering Vermont's Transportation Network
The Vermont Energy Investment Corporation (VEIC, www.veic.org) is dedicated to reducing the economic and
enviromnental costs of energy use, and to finding cost-effective ways to offset greenhouse gas emissions.
Founded in 1986, VEIC employs more than 300 professionals, with an annual budget of $85 million. It is
internationally recognized for advancing energy efficiency, conservation, and renewable energy plans and projects
in 35 states, 6 Canadian provinces, and 6 countries in Europe and Asia.
VEIC provides analysis, planning, evaluation, policy development, program design, management, and technical
support for projects in energy efficiency and renewable energy; transportation efficiency and mobility research; and
community energy initiatives, cost-effectiveness screening, and building codes and standards.
Currently, Vermont has 15 farm based waste digesters that process and collect the biogas emanating from waste
generated on the farms. Presently, all of these facilities combust the biogas that is collected on farm to produce
approximately 18,000 MWh of electricity. The electricity is primarily used to power homes and businesses in
Vermont. This electricity could be used to renewably power 5,000 electric vehicles in the State of Vermont
annually. Furthermore, the potential RIN generation revenue could be used to help finance other biogas collection
projects. Vermont has a potential of generating more electricity from waste digester biogas with the addition of a
new revenue source generated from RINs.
The State also has four facilities that process and combust woody biomass to produce nearly 340,000 MWh of
electricity. This electricity could be used to renewably power approximately 95,000 electric vehicles in the State of
Vermont annually.
II.
In the proposed rnlemaking, EPA states that "We do not at this point have sufficient information to evaluate the
lifecycle greenhouse gas emissions for production of renewable electricity ... from biogas from ... waste digesters.
Accordingly, we invite cmrunents providing information about these potential pathways." To this end, the Company
would like to assist EPA in gathering this data so that EPA may include electricity derived from waste digester
biogas in its finalized pathway for renewable electricity.
In a memorandum drafted by EPA in support of the pathway for renewable electricity from landfill biogas, EPA
stated:
The proposed lifecycle analysis of renewable electricity produced from landfill biogas focused on
emissions associated with production of the fuel. We did not consider any emissions from
production of the feedstock because the biogas originates from municipal solid waste. Similarly,
there are no emissions associated with transportation of the renewable electricity (although losses
are accounted for), and no tailpipe emissions, so the only significant GHG emissions are derived
from fuel production. 1
U.S. Enviromnental Protection Agency, Memorandum to Air and Radiation Docket EPA-HQ-OAR-2012-0401,
Support for Classification of Biofuel Produced from Landfill Biogas as Cellulosic Biofuel and Summary of
Lifecycle Analysis Assumptions and Calculations for Biofuels Produced from Landfill Biogas (May 20, 2013).
VT
As with the renewable electricity from landfill biogas, waste digester biogas has no emissions from: (1) the
production of the feedstock (because the biogas originates from farm and food waste); (2) the transportation of the
renewable electricity; and (3) tailpipe emissions. EPA implicitly recognized the equivalency of the two sources
when it provided a pathway for RIN generation for renewable compressed/liquefied natural gas from both landfill
gas and waste digester gas. As a result, the only potential difference in GHG emissions between renewable
electricity from digester biogas and landfill biogas should be the emissions derived from production of the "fuel"
(i.e., combustion of the biogas and conversion into electricity). Any such differences should be very minor due to
the comparable processes used to convert landfill and waste digester biogas into electricity.
While the Company recognizes that there are some minor differences between the lifecycle emissions of converting
waste digester biogas and landfill biogas into electricity as well as the GHG baseline treatment between the two
sources, the Company urges EPA to conduct the very minor additional analysis that would be required to determine
that renewable electricity from digester biogas also meets the 50 percent and 60 percent GHG reductions necessary
to qualify for Advanced Biofuel and Cellulosic Biofuel RIN generation, respectively. The Company believes that
this should not be a difficult detennination to reach as EPA determined that the real GHG reductions resulting from
using renewable electricity from landfill biogas as a transportation fuel ranged between 96 percent (landfills that
flared biogas) to 765 percent (landfills that vented biogas). 2 Such GHG reductions are far in excess of the
reductions necessary to qualify for RIN generation.
For the minor additional analysis that is required to make such a determination, the Company is available to meet
with EPA to help resolve any outstanding questions EPA may have so that it can finalize a pathway for renewable
electricity from waste digester biogas alongside its finalization of a pathway for renewable electricity from landfill
biogas. To that end, the Company suggests that the EPA utilize the data available and models of the Argonne
National Laboratory GREET model (Greenhouse Gases, Regulated Emissions, and Energy Use in Transportation)
and the CA-GREET model, used for the California Low Carbon Fuel Standard, updated in 2012 with new vehicle
models, as a template for recognizing the multiple sources ofrenewable electricity.
As a final point with respect to renewable electricity from waste digester biogas, as with landfill biogas, the
"feedstock" used to produce the biogas is primarily cellulosic in nature. Waste digesters typically use manure from
cows and other livestock as a primary feedstock, which is the result of diet of primarily cellulosic material (e.g., hay
and alfalfa). As a result, electricity from waste digester biogas should also qualify as Cellulosic Biofuel. The
Company is available to meet with EPA to discuss data that may aid EPA in reaching this determination.
Nonetheless, the Company recognizes that EPA may need additional time and resources to conduct an analysis of
whether waste digester biogas meets the definition of a cellulosic biomass. Therefore, if an analysis of the cellulosic
content of waste digester biogas will take longer than it will take to finalize the renewable electricity pathway
generally, the Company encourages EPA to move forward with finalizing a pathway for renewable electricity from
waste digester biogas as an Advanced Biofuel alongside its finalization of renewable electricity from landfill biogas
as a Cellulosic Biofuel.
III.
Additionally, the Company strongly encourages broadening the definition of renewable electricity and the
development of pathways for all renewable sources, including responsibly generated woody biomass. Woody
biomass is undoubtedly cellulosic in nature, and the question as to whether renewable electricity resulting from the
combustion of woody biomass qualifies as a Cellulosic, Advanced or Total Renewable Fuel is only dependent on the
associated GHG reductions.
As with the pathway for renewable electricity from waste digester biogas, the Company encourages EPA to utilize
the data available and models of the Argonne National Laboratory GREET model (Greenhouse Gases, Regulated
Emissions, and Energy Use in Transportation) and the CA-GREET model, used for the California Low Carbon Fuel
Standard, updated in 2012 with new vehicle models, as a template for quantifying the GHG reductions associated
with using renewable electricity generated from woody biomass. Furthermore, the Company is available to meet
with EPA to discuss potentially available data that may aid in this determination.
The Company recognizes that making such a pathway determination will take longer than it will take to finalize a
pathway for renewable electricity from landfill and waste digester biogas. Therefore, the Company encourages EPA
to move forward with finalizing a pathway for renewable electricity from waste digester gas alongside its
finalization of a pathway for renewable electricity from landfill biogas in the event that the woody biomass pathway
requires significant analysis.
As mentioned above, the Company is available to meet and discuss this issue in detail with EPA as the Company
believes that inclusion of RIN generation pathways for renewable electricity woody biomass and biogas from waste
digesters alongside EPA's finalization of a pathway for renewable electricity from landfill biogas would
significantly further the deployment of electric vehicles in Vermont and nationally, and help the United States meet
the mandates of the RFS.
Respectfully submitted,
Karen Glitman
Director of Transportation Efficiency
Vermont Energy Investment Corporation