Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether he has made representations to HS2 Ltd to support measures to encourage HS2 Ltd's contractors to use 100 per cent renewable diesel to improve air quality on and near those constructions sites.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Air quality requirements for HS2 are set during the parliamentary stages of the Bills for each phase of the railway. These reflect any relevant legal requirements or wider strategic governmental goals, and build on the air quality impact assessments and conclusions reported in the relevant Environmental Statements.
Measures to mitigate air quality effects on Phase One of HS2 are set out in Chapter 7 of the Code of Construction Practice, and in Information Paper E31 (air quality). These measures include emission standards and targets for all Heavy Goods Vehicles and Light Duty Vehicles used in construction, plus best practice measures to control construction site dust.
Within that framework, actual decisions on fuel purchases for construction sites and vehicles, are taken by contractors rather than HS2 Ltd. HS2 Ltd is, however, running an innovation project to test a range of biofuels. The findings of this project will help establish the benefits provided by such fuels, and in due course be used to inform contractors’ decisions.
Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of introducing a lower excise duty bracket for biodiesel that is 100 per cent derived from waste biomass.
Answered by Kemi Badenoch - President of the Board of Trade
The Government supports renewable fuels under the Renewable Transport Fuel Obligation (RTFO), rather than through duty relief. One benefit of this is that the RTFO scheme sets mandatory sustainability criteria which must be met in order for renewable fuels to benefit from the receipt of Renewable Transport Fuel Certificates (RTFCs). In this way we can ensure that renewable fuels supplied and rewarded in the UK deliver genuine reductions in greenhouse gas emissions compared to fossil fuels.
Where a renewable fuel is produced from waste it is eligible to receive twice the reward in certificates under the RTFO scheme than biofuels produced from non-wastes.
The RTFO has been highly successful in supporting a market for renewable fuel since its introduction in 2008. In 2019, the use of renewable fuels supplied under the RTFO scheme, as a replacement for fossil fuels such as regular petrol or diesel, saved almost 5.5 million tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions. This is the equivalent of taking 2.5 million combustion engine-powered cars off the road. Renewable fuel supplied under the RTFO currently contributes around a third of the savings required for the UK’s transport carbon budget and around two thirds of biofuels reported under the RTFO are made from wastes.
Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of classifying biodiesel that is 100 per cent derived from waste biomass separately from biodiesel made from non-waste biomass.
Answered by Rachel Maclean
The Department recognises the benefits that fuels produced from waste can have in reducing carbon emissions. It is anticipated the merits of any new classification for biodiesel proposed would relate to better informing the public or incentivising the uptake of waste derived biodiesel.
The industry standard for diesel and UK regulations make no requirement in respect of the labelling by feedstock type of biodiesel blended into diesel and placed on sale in UK forecourts. There is little merit in introducing such a requirement and given the complexity of fuel supply chains it is likely this information will not always be known at the point of sale.
The Renewable Transport Fuel Obligation (RTFO) was changed in 2011 so that waste derived biodiesel is eligible for twice the number of tradeable certificates than would be rewarded for biodiesel produced from non-wastes. One benefit of the change in approach is that the RTFO scheme also sets mandatory sustainability criteria which must be met in order for renewable fuels to benefit from any support. Thereby ensuing we reward fuels that deliver reductions in greenhouse gas emissions.
The RTFO has been highly successful in supporting a market for waste derived biofuels. In 2019 over two-thirds (69%) of renewable fuels reported under the RTFO were made from wastes and around four fifths (79%) of biodiesel reported was made from used cooking oil, a waste.
Asked by: Colleen Fletcher (Labour - Coventry North East)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what proportion of buses in regular operation are powered solely by renewable fuels.
Answered by Rachel Maclean
The table below shows the percentage of buses used as Public Service Vehicles by fuel consumption type, by metropolitan area status and country in 2019/20.
Fuel Consumption Type | London | English metropolitan areas | English non-metropolitan areas | England | Scotland | Wales | Great Britain | England outside London |
Hydrogen | 0% | 1% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% |
Electric (not hybrid) | 4% | 1% | 1% | 2% | 1% | 0% | 1% | 1% |
Diesel-Hybrid | 40% | 5% | 1% | 14% | 6% | 0% | 12% | 3% |
Methane/Biomethane | 0% | 0% | 2% | 1% | 0% | 0% | 1% | 2% |
Diesel | 56% | 94% | 96% | 84% | 94% | 100% | 85% | 95% |
Other (including Hydrogenated Vegetable Oil (HVO)) | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% |
Source: DfT Annual Bus Statistics (BUS0609b)
Asked by: John Spellar (Labour - Warley)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what his Department's policy is on the use of (a) food and (b) animal feed crops for the production of renewable diesel.
Answered by Rachel Maclean
The Government recognises that some crop derived biofuels can lead to an increase in greenhouse gas emissions due to indirect land use change factors, and concerns regarding the potential for increases in food prices as land and crops are diverted to fuel rather than food production.
Given these concerns the Renewable Transport Fuel Obligation (RTFO), a certificate trading scheme which promotes a market for sustainable renewable fuels, limits the contribution crop based biofuels can make towards a suppliers obligation (both bioethanol and biodiesel). This sliding cap on crop based biofuels decreases from 4% in 2020 to 2% in 2032. The RTFO provides additional support for low carbon fuels that do not compete with food and save significant greenhouse gas emissions compared to fossil fuels. Biofuels made from wastes and residues receive twice number of tradeable certificates than would be rewarded for the supply of biofuels made from crops.
Asked by: Alun Cairns (Conservative - Vale of Glamorgan)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made on the potential for synthetic fuel to drive motor vehicles to help meet the 2035 ban on diesel and petrol cars.
Answered by Rachel Maclean
The Government is consulting on ending the sale of new petrol, diesel and hybrid cars and vans from 2040 to 2035, or earlier if feasible. This is in line with advice from the independent Committee on Climate Change on what is required to achieve net zero emissions in 2050. Existing vehicles will be unaffected by this.
Renewable fuels, including renewable synthetic fuels, are incentivised through the Renewable Transport Fuel Obligation and are an important measure to reduce greenhouse gas emissions as we transition to zero emission vehicles.
Vehicles fuelled by renewable synthetic equivalents of petrol and diesel have the potential to reduce greenhouse gas emissions but are unlikely to offer the air quality benefits of battery electric or hydrogen fuelled vehicles.
Asked by: Chi Onwurah (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne Central)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, with reference to the Prime Minister's support for solar technology in African countries in his speech to the UN General Assembly on 24 September 2019, what steps the Government is taking to support (a) solar projects in Africa and (b) the sharing of renewable technology.
Answered by Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park
DFID’s support to clean energy in Africa is delivered through a range of programmes. We provide funding to support the installation of more off-grid solar power such as through mini-grid projects (e.g. in Kenya and Rwanda). We are helping to establish markets in a number of African countries for household solar power so poor people have access to affordable clean energy. We are also supporting private sector solar projects through the Green Climate Fund (GCF) and development finance interventions such as CDC, the Private Infrastructure Development Group, and the Multilateral Development Banks.
Over the last seven years the UK has provided 26 million people with improved access to clean energy and installed 1,600 MW of clean energy capacity.
At the G7, the Prime Minister announced the UK would double its support to the GCF, the principal climate multilateral, to £1.44bn over the next four years, to help developing countries adapt to the impacts of climate change and shift away from fossil fuels to renewable energy such as solar power. A range of existing GCF projects are supporting solar power in Africa. For example a GCF project is helping 50 poor, rural communities in Mali to switch from fossil fuel-powered diesel generators and kerosene lamps to green energy by installing solar mini-grids.
The Prime Minister announced at the UN Climate Action Summit funding of up to £1 billion for research, development and demonstration of new technologies and business models to unlock opportunities in developing countries for cleaner growth and better access to clean energy. Emerging technology areas to be supported include for example, energy storage, new cooling technologies, next generation solar, and technologies for industrial decarbonisation.
Asked by: Baroness Kennedy of Cradley (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to encourage the increased use of bio-diesel made from used cooking oil.
Answered by Baroness Sugg
Under the Renewable Transport Fuel Obligation (RTFO) biofuels reported as being made from waste have risen from 12 per cent of total biofuel supply in the first year of the obligation 2008/09, to 66 per cent in 2017/18. In 2017/18 the most widely reported source for biodiesel, by feedstock and country of origin, remained used cooking oil from the UK. (Biofuels Statistics obligation year 10 2017/18 - Report 6).
Last year the Government introduced changes to the RTFO which will almost double the use of renewable fuels from 2018 to 2020. Bio-diesel made from used cooking oil remains eligible for double rewards under the scheme, and will benefit from the increased market for renewable fuels.
Asked by: Chris Evans (Labour (Co-op) - Islwyn)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps the Government is taking to encourage hauliers to switch to alternatives to diesel engines.
Answered by John Hayes
The Government has implemented measures to encourage the uptake of alternatively-fuelled commercial vehicles. These include increasing rewards for renewable gaseous fuels under the Renewable Transport Fuel Obligation, the £11m Low Carbon Truck Trial, extending the Plug-in Van Grant to encompass heavier lorries, and a £20m Future Fuels for Flight and Freight Competition. We have also committed £20 million funding to enable the freight and logistics sector to trial the very latest in innovative low and zero emission vehicle technologies in their fleets.
Asked by: Royston Smith (Conservative - Southampton, Itchen)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what comparative assessment he has made of the effect on the environment of vehicles using (a) diesel and (b) liquefied petroleum gas.
Answered by John Hayes
The Department for Transport assesses a number of different fuels in terms of a range of environmental impacts including air quality and greenhouse gas emissions. A number of initiatives are underway to encourage cleaner, lower carbon fuels.
The Renewable Transport Fuel Obligation was amended to increase rewards for suppliers of biopropane from April 2015, following a consultation which considered the potential benefits of alternative fuels, including biopropane, in delivering greenhouse gas savings. Biopropane is the term commonly used to describe liquid petroleum gas (LPG) derived from production processes that use biomass as the feedstock.
The Department for Transport and Low Carbon Vehicle Partnership also established a Transport Energy Task Force which considered the potential of Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) in meeting our greenhouse gas reduction targets, alongside other alternative fuels, last year.
While no formal assessment of the air quality impact of LPG has been made, DfT and Defra officials met with representatives of the LPG industry during the consultation on the UK Air Quality Plans in 2015. Industry data shows that retrofitting older diesel cars and vans to run on LPG can reduce emissions of NOx (oxides of nitrogen) and particulate matter whilst producing CO2 (carbon dioxide) emissions between those of equivalent diesel and petrol engines.
Birmingham City Council were awarded £500,000 to enable the conversion of older black cabs from diesel to LPG as part of the 2014 Clean Vehicle Technology Fund (CVTF) grant scheme. As part of this funding, emissions will be measured before and after conversion.
As part of the Department’s Heavy Goods Vehicle emissions testing programme, the Low Carbon Vehicle Partnership is testing a dual fuel (diesel / LPG) retrofit conversion to a Euro VI truck, as well as gas and diesel comparators. Vehicle tests are currently underway and we expect to publish the results later this year. On 30th June, the Department launched an HGV accreditation scheme for retrofit technology to enable equipment manufacturers or vehicle operators to conduct robust, repeatable and reliable tests to validate the impact on fuel consumption and emissions under a range of operating conditions.