The UK parliament has voted to approve the Renewable Transport Fuel Obligation (RTFO), a mechanism by which the government can deliver greenhouse gas savings from the transport sector by promoting the use of renewable fuels.
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The RTFO has been under development since 2004. A key discussion point has been the sustainability of biofuels. A new Renewable Fuels Agency has been set up to measure the full life-cycle impacts of biofuels on the UK market. The European Commission is working on establishing related standards for biofuels supplied to the European market.
The RTFO will require that suppliers of fossil-based road transport fuels in the UK supply a certain amount of renewable transport fuel, or to pay to get out of their obligation. The scheme will be administered by the Renewable Fuels Agency using renewable transport fuel certificates, which companies can acquire by supplying renewable fuel themselves or by purchasing from other fuel suppliers.
“Barring any unforeseen rapid changes in the economics of transport fuels, the government expects transport fuels suppliers to fulfill their obligations without significant resort to the buy-out option, which is there as a safety valve to protect motorists against steep increases in the price of biofuels,” said the UK’s Low Carbon Vehicle Partnership, which has advised the government on the scheme.
The RTFO is expected to deliver savings of between 700,000 and 800,000 tonnes of carbon a year from 2010-11, equivalent to around 2.6m to 3m tonnes of carbon dioxide.
