NPRA-backed study claims LCFS would boost GHG emissions

The implementation of a nationwide low-carbon fuel standard (LCFS) in the United States would increase global greenhouse gas emissions (GHC) by up to 19 million metric tons each year, contradicting the claim of LCFS advocates that the standard would reduce such emissions, according to a study. The study, conducted by the Barr Engineering Co. of Minneapolis for members of the National Petrochemical & Refiners Association (NPRA), assumes that because an LCFS would prevent American refineries from importing petroleum obtained from oil sands in neighboring Western Canada, the United States would instead have to import more oil in tankers from the Middle East and elsewhere. The study calls this long-distance movement of oil thousands of miles around the world in tankers a “shuffle” that would result in higher carbon dioxide emissions than simply extracting the oil from Canadian oil sands for U.S. consumption, due to emissions created by shipping the oil from far distances. ( August 4, 2010)