UK to maintain double counting for waste biofuels

The UK government is not planning to remove "double rewarding wastes" under its Renewable Transport Fuels Obligation (RTFO) scheme, in contrast to the EU which wants to stop waste and advanced biofuels benefiting from being counted at twice their energy content.

The UK's RTFO sets an annual obligation on fuel suppliers to supply a certain volumetric share of renewable fuels. The UK government recognises the benefits of using waste feedstocks and intends to continue "incentivising them with a higher reward than crops", the UK Department for Transport (DfT) said today during its quarterly low-carbon fuels stakeholder meeting. But this will be kept "under review", the department added.

Under the EU's proposal to revise its recast Renewable Energy Directive (RED II), published last week as part of a wider package of climate and energy legislation, waste and advanced biofuels produced from feedstocks listed in Annex IX A and B of the directive will no longer be eligible for double counting to meet national mandates from 2025. But the share of advanced biofuels, biogas and renewable fuels of non-biological origin (RFNBO) used in aviation and maritime will be counted at 1.2 times their energy content.

The EU also proposed a sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) mandate for jet fuel suppliers, which would require aircraft landing at EU airports to use blended jet fuel with a 2pc SAF share by 2025, 5pc by 2030, 20pc by 2035, 32pc by 2040 and 63pc by 2050. Synthetic aviation fuels, including hydrogen, would rise from a 0.7pc share by 2030 to 11pc by 2045 and 28pc by 2050.

To counter tankering strategies, where aircraft heading to airports with more expensive refuelling services take on larger volumes than needed to save on fuel costs, the EU has proposed that the amount of aviation fuel uplifted by aircraft operators at EU airports must be at least 90pc of their annual fuel requirements.

The UK's DfT said it will publish a consultation to establish a UK SAF mandate "very soon" and that it will take steps to mitigate the potential risk of tankering in the UK.

By Giulia Squadrin