b'This can mean using low to no-till systems, Brown says. Its convenient adopting more sustainable practices at the farmer level because it will actually increase the incentive that renewable diesel will receive.Energy and AgricultureWhen it comes to energy, Kerry Trombley, senior business Regenerative and sustainable agriculturaldevelopment advisor for Marathon Petroleum, sees its future tied together with agriculture. Historically, thats been the case, practices have demonstrated positive carbonand as the move towards sustainability continuesespecially impact should be recognized and incentivized aswith the idea of renewable fuel coming to lightboth will share a future.part of state and national programs.As the U.S. shifts focus to low carbon intensity and low carbon fuels, he believes the energy sector and the seed sectorKerry Trombley will need to work together to meet their goals. How? Through renewable fuels and biodiesel. We see ag and energy becoming more intertwined, but that really got kick-started in 2005 with the passing of the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS), Trombley says, adding that the stand-ard kicked off a focus to help the U.S. create their own energy domestically by focusing more on volume than carbon intensity. Though that kicked the energy evolution off in 2005, theres a second energy evolution occurring right now being driven by policies containing low carbon fuel standards, with California leading the pack.Incentives Driven by State Initiatives It shifts the focus from just the volume requirement of In the policy sector in the U.S., theres a lot going on in the realmrenewable fuels to be a carbon intensity requirement for renew-of energy and the move towards climate smart policies.able fuels, Trombley says. A gallon of biodiesel, which under the Things such as renewable fuel or renewable diesel are alreadyRFS was the same whether it was created from soybean oil of playing a huge role in that, says Tristan Brown, director of thefrom a used cooking oil. Now those are incentivized differently.Bioeconomy Development Institute at the SUNY College of And while these standards are different and are causing Environmental Science and Forestry.changes throughout the U.S., Trombley says that theres never Especially in the road freight sector, when you think about thebeen such an integration into the existing transportation market long haul of heavy-duty applications like construction and agri-though its not without its challenges.culture equipment, Brown says this is going to require liquid fuelsConsumer acceptance of lower carbon fuels and scalability for the foreseeable future. Particularly due to new decarboniza- will be a challenge, he adds. tion targetslike targets laid out by low carbon fuel standards,Renewable diesel is not biodieselbiodiesel has blending which are being implemented by different states across the U.S. issues, he says. Renewable diesel is a 100% drop in fuel. You put If were really going to be net zero, we have to start displac- it in the engine and it will not know the differencebut scale is ing fossil fuel consumption, which means petrochemicals, hegoing to be a big problem.says.Under the current feedstock constraints, Trombley says you The idea behind low carbon fuel standards is to incentivizecant accomplish the goal of decarbonization sustainability given the reductions in carbon intensity of fuels that arecurrently usedthe challenges of scaling, but he believes proper policy can drive in the transportation sectoror, the larger your reduction inindustries to innovation and solutions. carbon intensity, the greater incentive you get.Regenerative and sustainable agricultural practices have This is really different than what weve seen at the fed- demonstrated positive carbon impact should be recognized and eral level with a number of the old blending tax credits or theincentivized as part of state and national programs, he says. Renewable Fuel Standard, Brown says. This is really drivenInnovative approaches, such as reduced fertilizer usage, cover decarbonization of the transportation sector and the states thatcrops and any way to reduce the land usage should be encour-have adopted itand we have a number of states that are alsoaged as part of the policies.considering it in the Midwest. This would be a great drive in theEnergy has a diverse future, Trombley says. The continued demand for renewable diesel. growth between ag and energywhere our sustainability prac-But, as the renewable fuel is being driven by low carbon fueltices overlap and where theyre incentivized will continue to grow standards, carbon intensity of feedstock matters. the renewable liquid fuels business.SW22/ SEEDWORLD.COMFEBRUARY 2023'