Gabriel E. Lade, PhD, Assistant Professor and C. William Swank Chair in Rural-Urban Policy at Ohio State University, will present the EEEP Seminar Series, “Does Renewable Diesel Clean the Air? Evidence from California Highways” on April 15, 2026.
Abstract:
Renewable diesel is a hydroprocessed, drop-in replacement for petroleum diesel. It accounted for less than 1% of California’s diesel pool in 2011 but exceeded two-thirds by 2024, driven by the state’s Low Carbon Fuel Standard and federal renewable fuel incentives. Dr. Lade used hourly traffic flow and roadside air quality monitor data alongside satellite NO₂ measurements from 2016 through 2024 to estimate whether this transformation has produced detectable changes in nitrogen oxide (NOx) concentrations along California’s highway corridors. Exploiting variation in truck traffic during high-trucking hours on major freight corridors interacted with the statewide rise in renewable diesel’s market share, Dr. Lade found evidence that NOx pollution decreased as renewable diesel adoption increased. The effects appear concentrated in the period of highest adoption and are consistent with nonlinear impacts of large-scale fuel composition change. The findings speak to when fuel-content policies produce local air quality co-benefits and how these benefits relate to the parallel role of vehicle emissions standards.
Bio:
Gabriel E. Lade is an Associate Professor and C. William Swank Chair in Rural-Urban Policy in the Department of Agricultural, Environmental, and Development Economics at The Ohio State University, where he leads the C. William Swank Program in Rural-Urban Policy. The program produces applied economic research to study critical policies shaping the future of rural and urban communities in Ohio. Dr. Lade’s areas of expertise include the economics of biofuels regulations, water and air quality valuation, and land use regulations. Prior to joining Ohio State, Lade served as an associate professor of economics at Macalester College and held faculty positions at Iowa State University, with visiting appointments at Cornell University and the University of Minnesota. He earned his PhD in agricultural and resource economics from the University of California, Davis.