Government continues to encourage biofuel usage
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The government's continued encouragement of the use of biofuels was further confirmed this week, when MPs voted in favour of the Government's proposed 'Renewable Transport Fuel Obligation' (RTFO). The RTFO encourages the use of biofuels while ensuring that they are sourced in sustainable, low-CO2 circumstances. From 2010, all petrol stations and fuel suppliers in the UK will be required by law to ensure that five percent of the fuel they sell comes from biofuels. This could either be achieved by including five percent biofuel into all petrol and diesel sold, or by selling smaller amounts of stronger blends, such as bioethanol E85, which is a mixture of 85percent ethanol and 15percent petrol or biodiesel B30, which is 30percent biodiesel and 70percent fossil diesel. Companies will be required to pay a penalty if they do not meet this target.
Some supermarkets fuel stations, including Tesco and Morrisons, already blend low amounts of biofuels into their standard petrol and diesel, which they're allowed to do because any car can run on these mild mixes without damage to its fuel system. It's thought likely selling a mild biofuel blend will be how all petrol stations meet the 2010 targets, rather than selling smaller amounts of E85 or B30, which can only be used in designated 'flex-fuel' cars and other models with modified fuel systems that can run on these stronger biofuel blends. That said, increased public awareness because of the RTFO could lead to growing sales of flex-fuel cars, which may mean that E85 and B30 becomes more widely available anyway.
Fuel companies will also have to prove that their biofuel is produced from ethically acceptable, sustainable and C02-reducing sources, in an effort to prevent the rainforest and land currently dedicated to food cultivation being turned over to biofuel production. This requirement does not go as far as the certification of fuels that many, including Ford's global head of technical development Richard Parry-Jones, are calling for in an effort to ensure that biofuel production is not counter-productive.
Click here for more information.The Government promises that the introduction of the RTFO will "deliver significant and immediate carbon savings from the transport sector and is an important part of the wider package of measures to 'reduce the environmental impact of transport'.
