The Emmett Institute on Climate Change and the Environment is proud to announce the release of its latest publication in collaboration with the Sabin Center for Climate Change Law at Columbia Law School and the Institute for Policy Integrity at New York University School of Law.

Transportation fuels from fossil sources represent the single largest source of carbon emissions in California. Low-carbon biofuels, which are derived from a variety of agricultural sources (such as corn, sugarcane, and canola), algae, food waste, and forest residue, among other sources, reduces petroleum fuel consumption as a substitute fuel. Yet California is missing opportunities to produce more of this biofuel locally, with attendant environmental and economic benefits.

California is on pace to meet its goal of securing 33 percent of the state’s electricity from renewable sources like solar and wind by 2020. But energy experts report that the in-state market for renewable energy will lose momentum without new policies to encourage deployment beyond 2020. To help spur growth, this report, written by UCLA Climate Policy Associate Ethan Elkind, recommends a new renewable energy target for 2030 that accounts for greenhouse gas emissions and tracks the state's long-term climate change goal.