Asked by: Kenny MacAskill (Alba Party - East Lothian)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of using (a) the (i) detritus and (ii) cut offs from timber products and (b) the waste from Whisky distilling in the manufacture of sustainable aviation fuel.
Answered by Anthony Browne - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Through the SAF Mandate the government will reward eligible SAF with certificates to incentivise its supply. Only SAF from waste and residue will be eligible. Wastes and residues from many industries have the potential to produce SAF. SAF developers can submit new materials to be assessed by the Department to decide if eligible. Many have already been assessed, including forestry wastes and residues from the whisky production process, from which some specific materials have already been deemed eligible.
Asked by: Kenny MacAskill (Alba Party - East Lothian)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether he has made an assessment of the potential merits of financially incentivising the use of sustainable aviation fuel.
Answered by Anthony Browne - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
On 25 April 2024, the government’s response to the second consultation on the UK SAF Mandate was published. This confirmed the final design of the scheme which, subject to parliamentary approval, will come into force on 1 January 2025.
The SAF Mandate builds upon the success of the Renewable Transport Fuel Obligation (RFTO), providing a long-term incentive to supply sustainable aviation fuel through a guaranteed level of demand.
As part of the SAF Mandate’s design, the government has published Cost Benefit Analysis documents that comprehensively present the possible costs and benefits of the scheme.
Asked by: Kenny MacAskill (Alba Party - East Lothian)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 22 April 2024 to Question 22401 on Aviation: Fuel, if he will detail the sums allocated to each of the 13 SAF projects.
Answered by Anthony Browne - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Company/Project | Project Location | Advanced Fuels Fund Award |
Alfanar Energy Ltd (Lighthouse Green Fuels) | Teesside | Window 1: £11,001,000 Window 2: £8,664,000 |
Fulcrum BioEnergy Ltd (NorthPoint) | Ellesmere Port, Cheshire | £16,764,000 |
Lanzatech UK Ltd (DRAGON) | South Wales | £24,960,843 |
Velocys plc (Altalto) | Immingham, Lincolnshire | £27,000,000 |
Velocys plc (e-Alto) | TBC | £2,523,094 |
Abundia Biomass-to-Liquids (Jet – AB2L) | Teesside | £4,484,000 |
Arcadia e-Fuels (NABOO) | Teesside | £12,341,000 |
Carbon Neutral Fuels (ASAP-DAC) | TBC | £1,376,000 |
Esso Petroleum Company (Solent SAF) | Solent | £6,065,000 |
Nova Pangaea Technologies (Project Speedbird) | Wilton at Teesside | £9,063,015 |
OXCCU Tech (OXEFUEL BIOGENIC) | Sheffield’s Translational Energy Research Centre | £2,814,000 |
Willis Sustainable Fuels (Carbonshift PtL) | Teesside | Award: £4,721,000 |
Zero Petroleum (PMZ.2) | Orkney | £3,492,100 |
Asked by: Kenny MacAskill (Alba Party - East Lothian)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 22 April 2024 to Question 22401 on Aviation: Fuels, if he will detail the firms and locations of the 13 SAF projects.
Answered by Anthony Browne - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Company/Project | Project Location |
Abundia Biomass-to-Liquids | Teesside |
Alfanar Energy Ltd | Teesside |
Fulcrum BioEnergy Ltd | Ellesmere Port, Cheshire |
Lanzatech UK Ltd | South Wales |
Velocys plc | Immingham, Lincolnshire |
Velocys plc | TBC |
Arcadia e-Fuels (NABOO) | Teesside |
Carbon Neutral Fuels | TBC |
Esso Petroleum Company | Solent |
Nova Pangaea Technologies | Wilton at Teesside |
OXCCU Tech | Sheffield’s Translational Energy Research Centre |
Willis Sustainable Fuels | Teesside |
Zero Petroleum | Orkney |
Asked by: Kenny MacAskill (Alba Party - East Lothian)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether his Department is taking steps to help support the development of (a) hydrotreating kerosene and (b) other cleaner aviation fuels.
Answered by Anthony Browne - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
In July 2022, Government confirmed that a SAF Mandate would be introduced in 2025 requiring at least 10% (around 1.5 billion litres) of jet fuel to be made from sustainable feedstocks by 2030.
In the second SAF mandate consultation, it was proposed that increasing targets be set out in legislation from 2025-2040. The levels of these targets will be confirmed in a Government response to the consultation due to be published in Spring 2024.
The SAF mandate will support SAF produced using a range of feedstocks and technologies including biofuels from waste materials via the hydrotreated ester fatty acids process.
Our £135m Advanced Fuels Fund is supporting 13 different SAF projects reach commercial scale in the UK. These cover a range of technologies to drive innovation and diversity of supply. Once operational, these projects are expected to collectively produce over 700 kilo tonnes of SAF and reduce CO2 emissions by 2.7 million each year.
In September 2023, the Government also committed to introduce a revenue certainty mechanism to support SAF production in the UK. The intention is that it will be industry funded. The mechanism will provide revenue certainty for SAF production, supporting investor confidence in UK SAF projects.
Asked by: Kenny MacAskill (Alba Party - East Lothian)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether his Department has targets for the commercial use of sustainable aviation fuel.
Answered by Anthony Browne - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
In July 2022, Government confirmed that a SAF Mandate would be introduced in 2025 requiring at least 10% (around 1.5 billion litres) of jet fuel to be made from sustainable feedstocks by 2030.
In the second SAF mandate consultation, it was proposed that increasing targets be set out in legislation from 2025-2040. The levels of these targets will be confirmed in a Government response to the consultation due to be published in Spring 2024.
The SAF mandate will support SAF produced using a range of feedstocks and technologies including biofuels from waste materials via the hydrotreated ester fatty acids process.
Our £135m Advanced Fuels Fund is supporting 13 different SAF projects reach commercial scale in the UK. These cover a range of technologies to drive innovation and diversity of supply. Once operational, these projects are expected to collectively produce over 700 kilo tonnes of SAF and reduce CO2 emissions by 2.7 million each year.
In September 2023, the Government also committed to introduce a revenue certainty mechanism to support SAF production in the UK. The intention is that it will be industry funded. The mechanism will provide revenue certainty for SAF production, supporting investor confidence in UK SAF projects.
Asked by: Kenny MacAskill (Alba Party - East Lothian)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether his Department has had recent discussions with HM Treasury on potential fiscal steps to support the road haulage industry with increases in its costs.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Department for Transport works with industry stakeholders and across government to address matters impacting the viability of our vital road freight sector. This includes the ministerially chaired Freight Council which brings together senior logistics sector representatives and government officials to consider strategic issues facing the multimodal freight sector, in addition to overseeing delivery of the long-term Future of Freight Plan.
Issues relating to fiscal policy, and its impact on the wider economy, remain a matter for the Chancellor of the Exchequer. Like all taxes, the government keeps HGV Vehicle Excise Duty and the HGV Levy under review.
Asked by: Kenny MacAskill (Alba Party - East Lothian)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether he has made an assessment of the potential merits of introducing (a) social tariffs and (b) other forms of financial support for (i) public transport and (ii) car insurance.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Government is taking action to ensure that public transport is affordable for people across the country. We have made significant investments in public transport to help make services more frequent, more reliable, cheaper and easier to use.
In January 2023, the Department introduced the £2 cap on single bus fares in England outside of London, which has been extended until the end of 2024. The increase to most regulated rail fares will be capped at 4.9% instead of the July 2023 RPI figure (9%) which has historically been used to calculate fares changes. This is set to come into effect on 3 March 2024, so passengers benefit from cheaper fares for longer. A range of railcards is also available which offers discounts to particular groups.
My officials regularly liaise with representatives of the motor insurance industry on a range of issues. However, it is the responsibility of individual motor insurers to set their premiums and the terms and conditions of their policies, and the Government does not intervene in, or seek to control, the market.
The Department also undertakes research to help inform our policy making and gives due consideration to the travel needs, behaviours and experiences of different groups.
Asked by: Kenny MacAskill (Alba Party - East Lothian)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 9 February 2024 to Question 13142 on Fishing Vessels: Surveillance, what the cost of flights were for DWF lawyers in 2023.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
There has been no cost for flights for DWF lawyers in 2023.
Asked by: Kenny MacAskill (Alba Party - East Lothian)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 2 February 2024 to Question 12084 on Fishing Vessels: Safety, what the total legal costs incurred by his Department were for (a) investigations of suspected non-use of personal floatation devices and (b) any other purpose by legal firm DWF in each of the last five years.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) incurred the following legal expenditure with DWF over the last 5 years:
a) Legal costs in issuing notices related to breach of the Merchant Shipping and Fishing Vessels (Personal Protective Equipment) Regulations 1999 - £31,104 in 2023. Nil return for information related to prior years.
b) Total legal spend with DWF (inclusive of spend detailed in part a) over the last 5 years is detailed below:
Year | Payment |
2018 | £9,701 |
2019 | £10,849 |
2020 | £15,079 |
2021 | £13,501 |
2022 | £472,869 |
2023 | £1,382,895 |
The change in total spend profile with this legal services provider reflects the fact that the MCA has reduced its suppliers to consolidate and reduce overall costs by utilising the framework for procurement of legal services.