Biofuel use exceeding Government target

A report into the United Kingdom's take up of biofuels has shown while it remains a small part of the overall market use is above Government targets.


But, the Renewable Fuels Agency (RFA) says still more needs to be done on the sustainable sourcing of biofuels.

In its second annual report, based on data recorded from April 2009 to the same month this year, the RFA claim almost 1.6 billion litres of biofuels or 3.33% of the market was used in the UK.

This means the take-up of biofuels beat the Government’s target of 3.25%.

According to the RFA this also means savings in emissions roughly equivalent to taking half a million vehicles off the road, or making Edinburgh, Cardiff and Belfast car free.

The carbon figures reflect the directly measurable savings biofuels offer but do not take into account the potential impact from indirect land use change (ILUC).

However, the RFA’s chief executive, Nick Goodall, also spoke of his ‘disappointment’ at some big oil companies ‘failing to take significant steps’ towards sourcing biofuels sustainably.

Mr Goodall, said: “The volume target has been met which is welcome news.

“But this is about sustainable carbon reduction, the leading suppliers have demonstrated that it is possible to secure sustainable biofuels in volume. Others have fallen well short.”

The Agency maps performance against three sustainability targets; data collection, greenhouse gas savings and performance against sustainability standards.

A full breakdown of the statistics can be found in the RFA’s Year Two Provisional Data which is available to download here.

Luke Walsh

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