Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the possible environmental, strategic and economic benefits of retaining a strong domestic biodiesel industry; and what proportion of biodiesel used in the UK is produced in this country.

Biodiesel is supported in the UK under the Renewable Transport Fuel Obligation (RTFO) certificate trading scheme. The scheme is subject to regular review and has been successfully supporting a UK biodiesel market for nearly 14 years. In recognition of the carbon reduction and wider environmental benefits, the scheme provides twice the level of reward for biodiesel produced from wastes as compared to biodiesel made from crop feedstocks. Consequently, biodiesel supplied under the RTFO is largely made from waste feedstocks, many of which are sourced in the UK. Biodiesel made from wastes generally delivers higher carbon savings.

The Department publishes statistics on renewable fuels supplied under the RTFO and the origin of feedstocks used to produce them. The latest verified data in the Renewable Fuel Statistics 2020 final report suggests that in 2020 1.62 billion litres of biodiesel was supplied for use in transport the UK, of which 142 million litres was produced from UK-origin feedstocks. In 2020 the most common source of biodiesel from UK feedstocks was used cooking oil, which contributed 50% of the total amount of biodiesel made from UK feedstocks. The UK currently has biodiesel production capacity of 660 million litres per year which equates to approximately 41% of biodiesel supply under the RTFO.

The RTFO scheme does not gather data on whether biodiesel is produced in the UK. According to the Digest of UK Energy Statistics 2021 published by the Department for Business, Energy, and Industrial Strategy, in 2020 the UK produced 558 million litres of biodiesel. In the same statistics in 2020 overall the UK consumed a total of 1,584 million litres of biodiesel.