Renewable Transport Fuel Obligation
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Bioenergy > Policy > UK/EU policy > Renewable Transport Fuel Obligation (RTFO)
The Renewable Transport Fuel Obligation (RTFO) is a mandate for biofuel use adopted by the United Kingdom. (Note: The RTFO may be slowed, as a result of the July 2008 release of the Gallagher Review.)
- Starting in 2008 the RTFO will "place an obligation on fuel suppliers to ensure that a certain percentage of their aggregate sales is made up of biofuels. The effect of this will be to require 5% of all UK fuel sold on UK forecourts to come from a renewable source by 2010."[1]
- Renewable Fuel Certificates will be issued, which can be traded by companies.
- Biofuel producers will have to report on the green-house gas balance, and environmental impact of their biofuels.
- This information will be used to develop sustainability standards, which may be imposed on any extension of the RTFO.[2]
- The Low Carbon Vehicle Partnership is helping develop carbon and sustainability standards through a multi-stakeholder process.
- Starting in April 2010, the government will reward biofuels under the RTFO based on the amount of carbon the fuel saves. This will be subject to compatibility with EU and WTO requirements and future consultation on the environmental and economic impacts;
- Starting in April 2011, the government will reward biofuels only if they meet appropriate sustainability standards. This will be subject to the same provisos as above and subject to the development of such standards for the relevant feedstocks.
- The government will ask the RTFO Administrator to report every three months on the effectiveness of the RTFO’s environmental reporting system, and on the carbon and sustainability effects of the RTFO;
- The government intends to set challenging targets for: the level of greenhouse gas savings from biofuels used to meet the RTFO; the proportion of biofuels from feedstock grown to recognized sustainability standards; and the amount of information to be included in sustainability reports;
- The government has asked the Low Carbon Vehicle Partnership to explore the feasibility of a voluntary labelling scheme, allowing responsible retailers to show that the biofuels they supply are genuinely sustainable. Any scheme would need to be compatible with WTO rules."[3]
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Websites
- Department of Transportation Renewable Fuel Transport Obligation page
- Department of Transportation Consultation on the Renewable Fuel Transport Obligation - The comment period on the consulation documents runs until May 2007.
- Carbon and sustainability reporting within the renewable transport fuel obligation
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Publications
- Feasibility Study on certification for a Renewable Transport Fuel Obligation by E4Tech, ECCM, and Imperial College London, UK, June 2005. This study addresses whether and how greenhouse gas and environmental standards and social standards should be linked to a Renewable Transport Fuel Obligation.
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News
- UK to slow expansion of biofuels, 7 July 2008 by BBC: "The UK is to slow its adoption of biofuels amid fears they raise food prices and harm the environment, the transport secretary [Ruth Kelly] has said."
- New study to force ministers to review climate change plan - Official review admits biofuel role in food crisis, 19 June 2008 by the Guardian: "Britain and Europe will be forced to fundamentally rethink a central part of their environment strategy after a government report found that the rush to develop biofuels has played a 'significant' role in the dramatic rise in global food prices, which has left 100 million more people without enough to eat."[1]
- Biofuel Rule Will Do More Harm Than Good, Oxfam Says, 15 April 2008 by Bloomberg: "U.K. fuels for cars and trucks must contain biofuels starting today, a move that may do more harm than good to the environment and drive food prices higher, charities including Oxfam and Greenpeace said."
- "'The sorts of problems that biofuels are causing are irreversible,' Robert Bailey, policy adviser to the development charity Oxfam, said in a telephone interview. 'If rainforest gets chopped down, it's gone forever. If somebody loses access to food, they become malnourished, their physical and mental development is impaired and they may die.'"
- "According to Oxford-based Oxfam, the U.K. policy will cost taxpayers 500 million pounds ($1 billion) a year, and may lead to 60 million people being forced from their land to make way for biofuel plantations. About 30 percent of recent food price inflation can be attributed to biofuel production, the group said, citing the International Food Policy Research Institute."[2]
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Events | Issues | News | Policies (Renewable Transport Fuel Obligation/RTFO, Gallagher Review) | ||
