Updates

Renewable Transport Fuels and Greenhouse Gas Emissions Regulations 2018 (SI 2018/374)

Commencement: 15th April 2018

Amends:

  • The Renewable Transport Fuel Obligation Order 2007
  • The Motor Fuel (Road Vehicle and Mobile Machinery) (Greenhouse Gas Emissions Reporting) Regulations 2012
  • The Energy Act 2004

 

Amendment

This Regulation aims to reduce Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions from transport fuels and increase the proportion of renewable transport fuel supplied. It does this by amending the two pieces of legislation below and changing some definitions in the Energy Act 2004.

The Renewable Transport Fuel Obligation Order 2007 puts an obligation on large transport fuel suppliers to ensure that a proportion of the fuel they supply comes from renewable and sustainable sources. So far the obligation has been mostly met with an increase in the supply of biodiesel and bioethanol which can be blended in small amounts with regular fuel or used on their own in specially adapted vehicles and non-road mobile machinery.

This amendment increases the volume target for total renewable fuel supplied from 4.75% currently, to 9.75% by 2020 and then 12.4% by 2032.

The amendment also introduces sub-targets for development fuels to increase incentives to supply other specific types of renewable fuel. These include fuels derived from waste (but not cooking oils and fats which are already well supplied), hydrogen fuel, renewable fuels that can be used in aviation and renewable fuels that can be blended with regular fuel at higher ratios (+25%).    

The amendment also places a limit on the contribution that renewable fuels produced from food crops can make towards meeting these targets. This will decrease the risks associated with indirect land-use change (ILUC). ILUC occurs where energy crops used for fuel are grown on agricultural land, displacing agricultural production to previously un-cropped land such as grasslands and forests.

The Motor Fuel (Road Vehicle and Mobile Machinery) (Greenhouse Gas Emissions Reporting) Regulations 2012 require large transport fuel suppliers to report on the volume, type and GHG intensity of the fuels they supply. This amendment sets a 6% greenhouse gas emissions reduction obligation on fuel suppliers to be achieved by 2020 based on a 2010 baseline. It also introduces a credit scheme to reward GHG emission reductions.

Link to legislation.gov.uk