Industry leaders discussed the state of low-carbon fuels in California at the Clean, Low-Carbon Fuels Summit on Feb. 3 during an annual event held by the clean transportation consortium CALSTART.

More than 150 individuals representing California’s legislature, clean fuels producers, and consumers met at the event in Sacramento to discuss opportunities and challenges in clean fuel commercialization and usage, according to CALSTART.

The summit addressed the California Air Resources Board’s low-carbon fuels standard (LCFS) designed to reduce the emissions intensity of fuels, along with longer-term targets for climate and clean fuels, with the issue of low gasoline prices setting the tone for the event.

"It's easy to forget the pain at the pump, but today’s fuel prices shouldn’t stop us from investing in alternatives," said Caroline Choi, vice president of energy and environmental policy Southern California Edison. "Last year, California surpassed 100,000 plug-in car sales. We are well on our way, but we still have a long way to go and need policies like the low-carbon fuels standard to keep the momentum going."

In 2007, California passed the first low-carbon fuel standard to encourage the use of non-petroleum fuels in transportation, including compressed natural gas (CNG) and liquified natural gas (LNG).

During its initial two years, low-carbon fuels displaced more than two billion gallons of gasoline and 77 million gallon-equivalents of diesel, according to the Institute of Transportation Studies at the University of California, Davis.