Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what measures they will take to ensure that the Renewable Transport Fuel Obligation supports the sustainable fuels industry.

Under the Renewable Transport Fuel Obligation (RTFO), biofuels reported as being made from waste have risen from 12% of total biofuel supply in the first year of the obligation (2008/09) to 66% in 2017/18. Building on that success the Government introduced changes to the RTFO last year which will almost double the use of renewable fuels from 2018 to 2020, and set targets out to 2032 providing industry with long term certainty.

In addition, as part of a fifteen year strategy for low carbon fuels the Government extended eligibility for rewards under the RTFO to aviation fuels last year, and is making available up to £20 million of matched capital funding to projects that will produce low carbon waste-based fuels to be used in aeroplanes and lorries through the Future Fuels for Flight and Freight Competition. The department is also engaging with industry on whether fuels produced from non-biogenic wastes, including those that are difficult to recycle, should be supported under the RTFO.

Through the Aviation Strategy the Government will consider policies it can put in place to further assist the long-term uptake of sustainable alternative fuels in this sector.