Action Needed Now: Approval of eRINs Pathway by EPA

Milk Producers Council (MPC) urges the Biden Administration and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to make final its proposed eRINs Pathway. Taking this action will create additional value for EPA’s Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) program by accelerating the adoption of electricity as a renewable transportation fuel, reducing greenhouse gas and particulate matter emissions, and driving technology innovation and local job creation.
 
Currently, Renewable Identification Numbers (RINs) are traded on the open market and purchased by refiners or importers of gasoline or diesel fuel to meet RFS regulations. RINs have been important incentive in developing transportation biofuels from cellulosic (ethanol) or biomass-based sources, which we believe should also be extended to the generation of electricity for use as transportation fuel.
 
Many of our MPC members are now playing a vital role in the transportation fuel sector by supplying renewable compressed natural gas (RCNG) from dairy biogas captured in methane digesters. However, if a dairy takes the next step to convert that dairy biogas to electricity for use as a transportation fuel, RINS are not available under the current RFS program. EPA’s proposed eRINs Pathway will ensure that electric fuel and RCNG will be treated the same going forward, allowing dairy biogas to be used where it’s needed – and in what form – in the future.
 
In California, we know that future is envisioned as all-electric. The Governor’s Executive Order N-79-20 mandates the California Air Resources Board (CARB) to develop and propose strategies to achieve 100% zero-emissions from medium and heavy-duty on-road vehicles in the State by 2045 where feasible and by 2035 from drayage trucks. Producers Dairy in Fresno, in partnership with the San Joaquin Valley Air Pollution Control District, is testing that future out.
 
Thanks to the District’s “Zero Emissions Truck Demonstration Pilot,” which was funded through CARB and the District, Producers Dairy is hauling milk using advanced electric technology under real-world conditions. What’s more, when the truck picks up milk from MPC member Bar 20 Dairy in Kerman, it can charge up on combustion-free electricity generated from methane captured in the dairy’s digester. Learn more about Bar 20 Dairy’s methane digester and fuel cell technology in this newly released BBC feature here.