Changes to the RTFO agreed by Parliament as part of Renewable Energy Directive implementation
Fri 16 December 2011
View all news
An amendment to the Renewable Transport Fuel Obligation (RTFO) has been agreed by the Houses of Parliament enabling the implementation of the transport elements of the EU's Renewable Energy Directive (RED). This means that there will be minimum sustainability standards and criteria applied to biofuel supplied to the UK market.
Introducing the amendment to the House of Commons, Transport Minister Norman Baker said: "The order is of key importance in our efforts to tackle climate change, and it will implement the transport element of the EU renewable energy directive."
"Biofuels are an important alternative to fossil fuel in transport, particularly in the period before low-emission vehicles become the norm. They therefore play a key role in allowing us to keep within our forthcoming carbon budgets and in meeting our European renewable energy targets. However, biofuels are not the silver bullet that some once believed. Legitimate concerns remain about the sustainability of some biofuels."
"Before I became a Minister, I listened when environmental pressure groups said that biofuels were the best thing since sliced bread; and I listen to them now when they express significant concerns about their sustainability. With that in mind, I want to make it clear that we are not setting out a new trajectory for increased biofuel targets beyond that already set under the current RTFO. The order is about making biofuels more sustainable; it is not about supplying more biofuel."
The amendment to the RTFO will retain the existing biofuel trajectory under which biofuel will comprise 5% of the total volume of fuel used for road transport in April 2013. It will stay at that amount until the Government chooses to amend the order further which, it says, will only occur if there is greater reassurance that higher volumes of biofuels can be supplied sustainably.
The LowCVP Managing Director Greg Archer commented: "The implementation of the Directive in the UK is an important step forward in ensuring the supply of better biofuels."
"However, more progress is needed at an EU level in tackling indirect land-use change (ILUC) and here in the UK to develop the plan for delivery of the Renewable Energy Directive and the Fuel Quality Directive (FQD) targets, ensuring market mechanisms are configured to promote greenhouse gas savings through the FQD."
Related Links
< Back to news list