Perhaps no other population in the world has embraced the automobile as passionately, nor is any other state defined as much by the car, as California. There are over 26 million cars and 1 million trucks on California roads and highways. Roughly half of the energy Californians consume is for transportation.

In 2010, Californians consumed over 18 billion gallons of gasoline and diesel fuel, resulting in the estimated emission of over 200 million metric tons of greenhouse gas equivalence. According to the latest inventory of statewide greenhouse gas emissions values, in 2009 the transportation sector represented 38 percent of statewide greenhouse gas emissions.

Reducing the rolling resistance of tires can lead to substantial improvements in vehicle fuel economy. In 2003, a consumer bill AB 844, directed the California Energy Commission to develop and implement a Fuel-Efficient Tire Program that included standards for tires on passenger vehicles and light duty trucks.

The Energy Commission is concerned with the impact transportation fuels have on our state. The Fuels and Transportation Division was created to focus on transportation energy and alternatives to conventional fossil fuels. The Division's mission is to ensure that adequate and reliable transportation energy is provided to the California transportation sector while balancing economic, public health, safety, and environmental consequences.

Division Director
Judith Friedman, Deputy Director
judith.friedman@energy.ca.gov
916-654-4628

Emerging Fuels & Technology Office

The Emerging Fuels & Technologies Office assesses and demonstrates the market potential of new transportation technologies and fuels, encourages the widespread use of low-emission alternative fuels in emerging technologies, and evaluates the development risks of and opportunities for using alternative fuels in transportation applications. The primary work of the Emerging Fuels and Technologies Office is to administer and implement the Alternative and Renewable Fuel and Vehicle Technology (ARFVT) Program.

Alternative and Renewable Fuel and Vehicle Technology (ARFVT) Program

Assembly Bill 118 (Nunez, Chapter 750, Statues of 2007) created the Alternative and Renewable Fuel and Vehicle Technology Program (ARFVTP), which creates an annual $100 million public investment fund to promote development and deployment of advanced technology, low carbon fuels and vehicles that will help the state achieve its greenhouse gas reduction goals. Alternative fuels supported by ARFVTP include electricity, hydrogen, biofuels, natural gas and renewable natural gas, plus the fueling infrastructure needed to deliver these new fuels to California consumers. Alternative technology vehicles supported by ARFVTP include: electric drive cars, shuttles and trucks; hydrogen fuel cell cars, trucks and buses; natural gas trucks, buses and cars; as well as trucks and cars that can use biofuels such as ethanol and biodiesel. ARFVTP provides funding support for workforce training and development in order to prepare the next generation of mechanics and technicians to support new technology vehicles and fuels.

The Energy Commission is tasked with administration and implementation of the program. Five major program elements include an annual Investment Plan, Solicitations, Award Selection, Grant Development, and Grant Project Management. Each year's Investment Plan is publicly discussed with a 25-member advisory committee of outside technical and policy experts. In addition to grant development and project management activities, staff in this office ensure project compliance under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), prepare Localized Health Impacts Reports for all projects with the potential to adversely affect public health, host legislatively required Advisory Committee meetings and public workshops to solicit stakeholder and public input.

Programs in this office contribute to statewide electric vehicle readiness efforts through participation in the Governor's Office Zero-emission Vehicle (ZEV) Task Force, Plug-in Electric Vehicle (PEV) Collaborative and California Public Utilities Commission proceedings. They contribute to statewide fuel cell vehicle and fueling infrastructure readiness and deployment through participation in the Fuel Cell Partnership. Staff works to develop sustainability standards through participation in Interagency Forestry Working Group, Low Carbon Fuel Standard (LCFS) Sustainability Working Group, and Roundtable on Sustainable Biofuels.

This office supports economic development and manufacturing growth in California through participation in the Governor's Office of Business and Economic Development and the California Advanced Energy and Alternative Transportation Financing Authority, in addition to other workforce development activities associated with ARFVTP funding.