Renewable Transport Fuel Obligation

In June 2007 the Government published a consultation on the carbon and sustainability reporting requirements for biofuels. This consulation forms part of the work on the Renewable Transport Fuel Obligation (RTFO), which means that by 2010, 5% of all the fuel sold on UK forecourts should come from biofuels.

The government expects this to save 1 million tones of carbon a year, the equivalent of taking 1 million cars off the road.

In June 2007 the Government published a consultation on the carbon and sustainability reporting requirements for biofuels. This consulation forms part of the work on the Renewable Transport Fuel Obligation (RTFO), which means that by 2010, 5% of all the fuel sold on UK forecourts should come from biofuels. Government expects this to save 1 million tones of carbon a year, the equivalent of taking 1 million cars off the road.

The consultation document sets out the proposed methodology that transport fuel suppliers will have to follow to receive certificates under the RTFO and provides guidance on how they can report against this methodology. It also provides default carbon saving values for the majority of fuel chains that will exist for the UK market.

Note that Government has also committed itself to a package of measures as follows (also available from the press release above):

• To reward biofuels under the RTFO in accordance with the carbon savings that they offer from April 2010, provided that this is compatible with World Trade Organisation rules and EU Technical Standards requirements, and is consistent with the policy framework being developed by the European Commission as part of the review of the Biofuels Directive, and subject to consultation on its environmental and economic impacts
• To reward biofuels under the RTFO only if the feedstocks from which they are produced meet appropriate sustainability standards from April 2011, subject to the same provisos and consultation as above and subject to the development of such standards for the relevant feedstocks.
• To continue to work closely with partners at a national, European and international level to develop robust standards for ensuring the sustainability of biofuels and to ensure that early consideration is given to the WTO implications of the UK’s policy intentions.
• To ask the RTFO Administrator to report to the Secretary of State every three months on the effectiveness of the RTFO's environmental reporting mechanisms, and on the carbon and sustainability effects of the RTFO. The Government will keep the RTFO under review in the light of these reports.
• To set stretching indicative targets for the level of carbon and sustainability performance expected from all transport fuel suppliers claiming certificates for biofuels in the early years of the RTFO. These targets, which are included in the consultation paper we are publishing today, cover:
  
  • the level of greenhouse gas savings that we expect to see from the biofuels used to meet the RTFO;
  • the proportion of those biofuels that we expect to come from feedstocks grown to recognised sustainability standards; and
  • the amount of specific information that we expect to be included in sustainability reports.
• Has asked the Low Carbon Vehicle Partnership (LowCVP) to explore the feasibility of a voluntary labelling scheme to allow responsible retailers to show that their biofuels are genuinely sustainable. Any scheme would need to be compatible with WTO rules