British Columbia will ease into required carbon intensity reductions for jet fuel supplied to the province under regulations set to begin early next year.
Final regulations released late yesterday maintain a 10pc reduction target for 2030 but begin requirements a year later and only for larger suppliers than first proposed earlier this year under the province's independent low-carbon fuel standard (LCFS). The province's program revisions would take effect on 1 January 2024.
LCFS programs require yearly reductions in transportation fuel carbon intensity. Conventional, higher-carbon fuels that exceed annual limits incur deficits that suppliers must offset with credits generated from the distribution of approved, lower-carbon alternatives.
North American programs along the US west coast and in British Columbia have allowed lower-carbon synthetic aviation fuel (SAF) to generate credits, but not previously imposed the carbon reduction requirements that exist for road fuels on jet fuel. British Columbia requires a 2pc reduction in carbon intensity for jet fuel beginning in 2026, rising by 2pc each year until reaching the 10pc reduction target in 2030. The province will assess the targets and available fuel supplies in 2026.
Language proposed last spring had proposed a 1.7pc decrease beginning in 2025, climbing through a 5pc reduction target in 2027.
Regulators also raised the threshold for obligated suppliers to those delivering at least 100mn l/yr (1,723 b/d) until 2027, when the exemption drops to those supplying less than 10mn l/yr. The province had previously proposed starting exemptions at the 10mn l/yr level. The exemption falls to 4mn l/yr beginning in 2030 as originally proposed, under the new language.
The province has imposed the toughest carbon reduction requirements of any North American jurisdiction so far. California continues to consider expected updates to its LCFS program that would include tougher annual targets through 2030 and could impose deficits on intrastate jet fuel. British Columbia operates its program in addition to the new Canadian Clean Fuel Regulations, a federal LCFS that began enforcement in July.
