REA asks UK gov to double biofuel blend target

21 December 2006 14:25  [Source: ICIS news]

MADRID (ICIS news)--The UK biofuels industry has asked the government to double the country’s blending obligation to 10% by 2015, a Renewable Energy Association (REA) official said on Thursday.

 

The country has introduced the Renewable Road Transport Fuel Obligation (RTFO), which mandates that 5% of transport petrol contain biofuel by 2010.

 

This is in line with the European Commission’s (EC) biofuels directive.

 

However, efforts to meet the obligation are moving slowly as the blended volume stands at a mere 0.3% compared to the 2% it should have been at by now.

 

“We need a 10% minimum volume target by 2015,” Graham Meeks, head of the biofuels department at the REA, told ICIS news.

 

Even if Britain achieved the 5% goal, it would still fall behind the EC’s 8% volume target, Meeks added.

 

The government must also develop the higher-blends market to enable biofuels such as E85 (85% ethanol/15% gasoline) and B20 (20% biodiesel/80% diesel) to be sold in the UK, he said.

 

However, Meeks is pessimistic that the administration will act soon to boost the trade.

 

“I’m not confident,” he said. “The government is sitting on its hands, waiting for a queue from Europe to decide what to do.”

 

Prime Minister Tony Blair has pledged to make the UK a leader in the battle against global warming.

 

In light of that promise, Britain needs to take a proactive and not reactive approach to the biofuels market, Meeks said.

By: Ivan Castano Freeman
+44 20 8652 3214

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