The Renewable Transport Fuel Obligation (RTFO) in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

is a requirement on transport fuel suppliers to ensure that 5 percent of all road vehicle fuel is supplied from sustainable renewable sources by 2010. The Government intends to set variable targets for the level of carbon and sustainability performance expected from all transport fuel suppliers claiming certificates for biofuels in the early years of the RTFO. The announcement to introduce the Obligation was made on 10 November 2005, using powers included in the

Energy Act 2004 The Energy Act 2004 (c. 20) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom concerned with nuclear power, renewable and sustainable energy and energy regulation. Royal assent was granted on 22 July 2004. Part 1 Chapter 1 Section 10 Section ...

. It came into force on 15 April 2008. In mid-2005, biofuel made up 0.25% of overall road fuel sales, around 50% of it imported. In practice, the Renewable Transport Fuel Obligation will mostly be achieved by blending

fossil fuel A fossil fuel is a flammable carbon compound- or hydrocarbon-containing material formed naturally in the Earth's crust from the buried remains of prehistoric organisms (animals, plants or microplanktons), a process that occurs within geolog ...

s with

bioethanol Ethanol fuel is fuel containing ethyl alcohol, the same type of alcohol as found in alcoholic beverages. It is most often used as a motor fuel, mainly as a biofuel additive for gasoline. Several common ethanol fuel mixtures are in use a ...

, biomethanol or

biodiesel Biodiesel is a renewable biofuel, a form of diesel fuel, derived from biological sources like vegetable oils, animal fats, or recycled greases, and consisting of long-chain fatty acid esters. It is typically made from fats. The roots of bi ...

– derived from sources such as

palm oil Palm oil is an edible vegetable oil derived from the mesocarp (reddish pulp) of the fruit of oil palms. The oil is used in food manufacturing, in beauty products, and as biofuel. Palm oil accounted for about 36% of global oils produced from o ...

oilseed rape Rapeseed (''Brassica napus'' subsp. ''napus''), also known as rape and oilseed rape and canola, is a bright-yellow flowering member of the family Brassicaceae (mustard or cabbage family), cultivated mainly for its oil-rich seed, which naturall ...

cereal A cereal is a grass cultivated for its edible grain. Cereals are the world's largest crops, and are therefore staple foods. They include rice, wheat, rye, oats, barley, millet, and maize ( Corn). Edible grains from other plant families, ...

sugar cane Sugarcane or sugar cane is a species of tall, Perennial plant, perennial grass (in the genus ''Saccharum'', tribe Andropogoneae) that is used for sugar Sugar industry, production. The plants are 2–6 m (6–20 ft) tall with stout, jointed, fib ...

sugar beet A sugar beet is a plant whose root contains a high concentration of sucrose and that is grown commercially for sugar production. In plant breeding, it is known as the Altissima cultivar group of the common beet (''Beta vulgaris''). Together with ...

, and reprocessed vegetable oil – or

biomethane Renewable natural gas (RNG), also known as biomethane, is a renewable fuel made from biogas that has been upgraded to a quality similar to fossil fuel, fossil natural gas and has a methane concentration of 90% or greater. By removing carbon diox ...

. Almost all existing vehicles are able to run on a 5% blend in liquid fuels, in some cases with fuel system adjustments.

Natural gas vehicles A natural gas vehicle (NGV) utilizes Compressed natural gas, compressed natural gas (CNG) or Liquefied natural gas, liquefied natural gas (LNG) as an alternative fuel source. Distinguished from autogas vehicles fueled by liquefied petroleum ga ...

can run on pure

. Consideration should also be given to the effect of biofuel constituents on fuel system parts such as rubber hoses, particularly in older or classic vehicles. Flexible Fuel Vehicles, currently more common in the Americas than in Europe, are able to use blends of up to 85% ethanol in the

U.S. The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 contiguous ...

and

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

, and up to 100%

hydrous In chemistry, a hydrate is a substance that contains water or its constituent elements. The chemical state of the water varies widely between different classes of hydrates, some of which were so labeled before their chemical structure was understo ...

ethanol in

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

. The requirement that the biofuel sources should be sustainable is also important. In

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a considerably smaller portion in the Northern Hemisphere. It can also be described as the southern Subregion#Americas, subregion o ...

and

Asia Asia ( , ) is the largest continent in the world by both land area and population. It covers an area of more than 44 million square kilometres, about 30% of Earth's total land area and 8% of Earth's total surface area. The continent, which ...

, the production of biofuels for export has in some cases resulted in significant ecological damage, including the clearing of

rainforest Rainforests are forests characterized by a closed and continuous tree Canopy (biology), canopy, moisture-dependent vegetation, the presence of epiphytes and lianas and the absence of wildfire. Rainforests can be generally classified as tropi ...

. In the future, the

Department for Transport The Department for Transport (DfT) is a Departments of the Government of the United Kingdom, ministerial department of the Government of the United Kingdom. It is responsible for the English transport network and a limited number of transport ...

estimate that up to 1/3 of the fuel in the UK transport sector could be produced from home-grown biofuels. In addition to contributing to cutting carbon emissions, the use of biofuels is seen as widening the country's fuel diversity and increasing fuel

security Security is protection from, or resilience against, potential harm (or other unwanted coercion). Beneficiaries (technically referents) of security may be persons and social groups, objects and institutions, ecosystems, or any other entity or ...

. The RTFO will help bring the UK into line with European Union biofuels directive, which sets targets for all EU countries for biofuel usage of 2% by the end of 2005 and 5.75% by the end of 2010.

Implementation

The RTFO will be implemented through a certification scheme administered by the Department for Transport. Companies certified as having sold more than the 5% obligation will be able to sell their certificates for the excess to those who sold less.

References

External links

Department for Transport/RTFO

Text of the Renewable Transport Fuel Obligations Order 2007
from the

Office of Public Sector Information The Office of Public Sector Information (OPSI) is the body responsible for the operation of His Majesty's Stationery Office (HMSO) and of other public information services of the United Kingdom. The OPSI is part of the National Archives of the U ...

Department for Transport Renewable Transport Fuel Obligation feasibility report

Critique of Government biofuels policy

In the media

* 26 July 2006, ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

'
Biofuels fires up its Teesside production
* 2 November 2005, ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British Newspaper#Daily, daily Newspaper#National, national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its modern name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its si ...

''
All cars will run on 'biofuel' mix by 2010
* May 2002, '' European Environmental Bureau''
Biofuels not as green as they sound
* 23 November 2004, '' Feeding Cars, Not People, George Monbiot'
Feeding Cars, Not People
{{Energy in the United Kingdom, sources Flexible-fuel vehicles Politics of the United Kingdom Road transport in the United Kingdom Biofuel in the United Kingdom Transport policy in the United Kingdom

Implementation

See also

References

External links

In the media