Asked by: Matt Vickers (Conservative - Stockton South)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment his Department has made of the effect of the introduction of E10 on UK (a) carbon emissions and (b) air pollution.
Answered by Rachel Maclean
The document “Introducing E10 Petrol: consultation”, published by the Department in March 2020, notes that a switch to E10 could cut overall transport CO2 emissions by 750,000 tonnes per year, if it is combined with an increase to Renewable Transport Fuel Obligation (RTFO) targets. It also noted that we do not expect moving to E10 to deliver significant air quality benefits.
Asked by: Matt Vickers (Conservative - Stockton South)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 2 May 2020 to Question 46196 on Biofuels, when his Department plans to publish its response to the Consultation on the Introduction of E10; and if he will publish that response before the House returns from recess in September 2020.
Answered by Rachel Maclean
The Department aims to publish the Government response to our consultation on the introduction of E10, which closed in May, as early as possible this year.
Asked by: Matt Vickers (Conservative - Stockton South)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 20 May 2020 to Question 46196, on Biofuels: Public Consultation, if his Department will publish the (a) responses to the consultation received from the public and (b) the Government's response and next steps before the 2020 summer recess.
Answered by Rachel Maclean
As is the normal practice the Department will publish a summary of all responses to the consultation. The Department is working hard to publish this summary, as part of the Government response setting out next steps, as early as possible this year. However, taking into account that the consultation only closed last month it will not possible to publish the Government response before summer recess.
Asked by: Matt Vickers (Conservative - Stockton South)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what meetings he has held with and what representations he has received from stakeholders on his Department's consultation on the Introduction of E10; and if he will make a statement on the steps his Department plans to take during that consultation process.
Answered by Rachel Maclean
The Department publishes details of ministers’ meetings with external organisations on a quarterly basis and this information is made available on data.gov.uk. The consultation “Introducing E10 petrol”, on proposals to introduce petrol with a higher bioethanol content, closed on 3 May 2020. The Department received responses from a wide range of stakeholders and is analysing the responses at pace. We plan to publish a Government response later this year, summarising the representations made and setting out next steps.
Asked by: Matt Vickers (Conservative - Stockton South)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the effect of the covid-19 outbreak on the bioethanol industry.
Answered by Rachel Maclean
The Government is in regular contact with companies in the fuel supply chain, including UK bioethanol suppliers, to apprise them of the support available to businesses as part of the response to COVID-19. It is too early to make any formal assessment of the impact of COVID-19 on the bioethanol sector but the Department for Transport regularly monitors and reviews the schemes it has in place to support the renewable transport fuels sector to ensure these deliver cost effective carbon savings.
The Renewable Transport Fuel Obligation (RTFO), a certificate trading scheme, is continuing to support a market for renewable fuels, such as bioethanol. The Department is working as flexibly as possible to ensure that renewable transport fuel certificates are issued quickly to improve the cash flow of renewable transport fuels suppliers.
The Department has also just consulted on proposals to introduce petrol with a higher bioethanol content in 2021 and is analysing responses at pace. It is understood that these proposals could potentially provide an economic boost to UK bioethanol producers in addition to wider economic benefits for the UK. Indeed, the UK bioethanol sector has stepped up to the challenge presented by COVID-19, by amending their production procedures to supply ethanol to the cleaning and sanitizer market. The Government is grateful to the producers involved.
Asked by: Matt Vickers (Conservative - Stockton South)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the potential effect of the use of E10 fuel on the UK's carbon emissions.
Answered by Rachel Maclean
Biofuels, such as ethanol, have a lower impact on net CO2 emissions compared with fossil fuel derived petrol. In the consultation paper “E10 petrol, consumer protection and fuel pump labelling”, the Department noted that using bioethanol in place of fossil fuels can reduce CO2 emissions by around 65% for an equivalent volume of fossil fuel. As a result, increasing the proportion of bioethanol in petrol from 5 to 10% could reduce the CO2 emissions of a vehicle by around 2%. Recently, the Government has made significant progress in relation to policy on E10 and we will publish our response to the previous call for evidence on E10, as well as next steps, as soon as possible.