Highlight
- On-road light-duty vehicles (passenger cars, light-duty trucks & SUVs, and motorcycles) accounted for the lion’s share of the transportation sector’s emissions with 117.65 MMTCO2e altogether. Despite the modest drop, this represented 69.1 percent of the sector’s total emissions in 2019, up from 67.9 percent in 2018, due to on-road emissions from heavy-duty vehicles falling faster (-7.5%). Thanks to increases in fuel economy as well as ZEVs becoming more mainstream, GHG emissions per unit of fuel consumed are decreasing. The amount of transportation fuel consumed in 2019 (18.86 billion gasoline-gallon equivalent) was similar to 2016 (18.90 billion GGE), yet GHG emissions in 2019 were 2.4 percent lower compared to 2016.
Opportunity
- The federal government is now aligned with California’s goals of electrifying the transportation sector. First, in September 2020, Governor Newsom signed Executive Order N-79-20, which directs state regulators to achieve the goal of 100 percent of in-state sales of new passenger cars and trucks to be zero-emission by 2035,11 then in March of this year the California budget apportioned $2.7 billion for electric vehicle rebates and acquisitions.12 In August 2021, President Biden announced a goal of 50 percent of new vehicles sales be zero-emission vehicles (ZEVs) by 2030.13
11 Specifically, The Executive Order has the following additional goals: (1) 100 percent of medium- and heavy-duty vehicles in the State be zero-emission by 2045 for all operations where feasible and by 2035 for drayage trucks; (2) California to transition to 100 percent zero-emission off-road vehicles and equipment by 2035 where feasible. Executive Order N-79-20 can be viewed here: https://www.gov.ca.gov/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/9.23.20-EO-N-79-20-Climate.pdf
12 Capitol Weekly. “Lawmakers approved $2.7 Billion for zero-emission vehicles.” July, 12, 2021. Retrieved from: https://capitolweekly.net/lawmakers-okay-2-7-billion-for-zero-emission-vehicles/
13 The White House. “FACT SHEET: President Biden Announces Steps to Drive American Leadership Forward on Clean Cars and Trucks.” August 5, 2021. Retrieved from: https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2021/08/05/fact-sheet-president-biden-announces-steps-to-drive-american-leadership-forward-on-clean-cars-and-trucks/
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