The UK Department for Transport has released its Renewable Transport Fuel Obligation (RTFO) statistics for the period April 2016 to April 2017. The report shows 1,541 million litres of biofuels were supplied in the period.
Under the RTFO, transport fuel suppliers have to ensure that a proportion of the fuel they supply comes from renewable sources, i.e. biofuels. The legislation is part of the UK’s efforts to deliver reductions in carbon dioxide emissions from fuels used for transport purposes and non-road mobile machinery.
The 1,541 million litres of biofuels supplied constitute 3% of the total road and non-road mobile machinery fuel supplied in the period. According to the report, 1,221 million litres (79%) of the biofuels have been demonstrated to meet the sustainability requirements. Of this 1,221 million litres, bioethanol comprises 51%, biodiesel 46% and biomethanol 3%. There was also a small volume of off-road biodiesel, biodiesel HVO and biomethane.
Of the biofuel supplied into the UK, 79% has been shown to be sustainable, and 51% was eligible for “double counted” certificates.
According to the statistics, the most widely used source of biodiesel was used cooking oil from the UK (115 million litres). Wheat from the UK, meanwhile, was the biggest source for bioethanol (158 million litres).
In total, an aggregate greenhouse gas saving of 76% compared to fossil fuels was achieved in this period.
