Since an amendment in 2017, the California Air Resources Board (CARB) has incentivized the voluntary capture and use of methane from dairy and livestock manure under the state’s Low Carbon Fuel Standard (LCFS) regulation. The LCFS is designed to reduce the average carbon intensity of transportation fuels used in the state, in part by requiring oil and gas companies that provide fossil-based fuels to purchase credits from producers of alternative fuels with lower carbon intensities. Dairies that capture methane emissions from livestock manure using anaerobic digesters, and convert them into renewable natural gas (RNG) for use in vehicles, are eligible for crediting under the program for three 10-year “crediting periods”. The scheme relies on the baseline assumption that captured methane converted into transportation fuel would otherwise be vented to the atmosphere, meaning that manure biogas is assigned negative carbon intensity metrics, generating profitable fuel credits which digester project developers can sell.
Adopted in 2016, California Senate Bill 1383 states that as of January 2024, CARB has the legal authority to enact laws to directly regulate methane emissions from livestock manure management. The bill also calls for the immediate wind-down of the voluntary crediting mechanism as soon as this regulatory framework is in place. As part of an update aimed to align the LCFS with California’s 2022 Scoping Plan, CARB began considering timelines in August 2023 for the phaseout of avoided methane credits in favor of an emissions reductions mandate. All timelines proposed allowed dairy methane digester projects currently in operation or beginning construction before 2030 to continue benefitting from avoided methane credits.
CARB voted in a November 2024 board meeting to preserve avoided methane credits for anaerobic digester projects until 2030. After this, new projects will not be able to be certified for LCFS credits through this fuel pathway. The hearing also decided regulations which mandate methane emissions reductions from livestock manure will be adopted by 2028 for implementation by 2030, although digester projects that already exist will be eligible to continue receiving credits for three 10-year crediting periods after the policy has come into force, and any projects that begin construction by 2030 will be eligible for two crediting periods.
Avoided methane credits: long-term phaseout confirmed. Manure emissions capture and reduction requirements: under development (due to come into effect in 2030).
Avoided methane credits: long-term phaseout confirmed. Manure emissions capture and reduction requirements: under development (due to come into effect in 2030).
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