Asked by: Emily Thornberry (Labour - Islington South and Finsbury)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what discussions she has had with British Sugar PLC on the tariff treatment of bioethanol since the start of 2019.
Answered by Greg Hands - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Secretary of State has not had any discussions with British Sugar PLC on the tariff treatment of bioethanol since her appointment in July 2019.
Asked by: Emily Thornberry (Labour - Islington South and Finsbury)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, whether she personally approved the adjustment in the proposed UK tariffs on bioethanol to be applied if the UK had left the EU without a deal, announced by her Department on 8 October 2019.
Answered by Greg Hands - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Government noted that the refinery industry would be impacted by liberalisation in the event that the UK left the EU without a withdrawal agreement. The Government therefore retained tariffs on products from refineries in contingency planning for a No Deal exit.
As the Government secured the Withdrawal Agreement with the EU in advance of 31 January 2020, the contingency planning was for an outcome that is no longer relevant.
Asked by: Emma Hardy (Labour - Kingston upon Hull West and Hessle)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether he plans to facilitate the continued use of E5 fuel for Classic Car owners.
Answered by Rachel Maclean
On 25th February we published the Government response to the consultation paper “Introducing E10 petrol”. The Government response confirmed our intention to introduce E10 petrol in the standard 95-octane petrol grade by 1 September 2021 and to ensure that E5 will remain available at the higher-octane super grade. The Department has taken the needs and concerns of classic car users into consideration in developing these proposals and understands that many owners of classic cars already use the higher-octane option.
E10 (Petrol containing up to 10% bioethanol)
Asked by: Marco Longhi (Conservative - Dudley North)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment has he made of the effect on transition to net zero carbon emissions by 2050 of the introduction of biofuels in the (a) automotive sector and (b) rail sector.
Answered by Rachel Maclean
Low carbon fuels, including biofuels, play a significant role in decarbonising road transport. The Renewable Transport Fuel Obligation (RTFO), a certificate trading scheme, has been successful since 2008 in supporting a UK market for renewable fuels. In 2019, biofuel supplied under the RTFO saved 5,368kt of CO2 emissions; the equivalent of taking 2.3 million vehicles off the road for a full year.
Low carbon fuels will continue to contribute to meeting UK carbon budgets for decades to come, initially from conventional road vehicles but gradually shifting to heavier sectors such as aviation.
Biofuels are currently used in rail and are supported under the RTFO. In future assessments of long-term biofuel use in rail, we will consider the likely need for biofuels in other sectors, their potentially limited supply, and the existence of other viable low-carbon options available for powering trains.
In March 2020 the Department launched the consultation ‘Introducing E10 Petrol’ which proposed introducing petrol that contains up to 10% bioethanol, an increase from the current level of up to 5%. We are working hard to publish the Government Response as quickly as possible, and anticipate that any requirement to provide E10 would come into force in 2021. If combined with an increase in RTFO targets, the introduction of E10 could reduce CO2 emissions from road transport by a further 750,000 tonnes per year. This would be the equivalent of taking around 350,000 cars off the road.
Asked by: Marco Longhi (Conservative - Dudley North)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of using ethanol as a substitute for petrol in the automotive sector.
Answered by Rachel Maclean
Low carbon fuels, including biofuels, play a significant role in decarbonising road transport. The Renewable Transport Fuel Obligation (RTFO), a certificate trading scheme, has been successful since 2008 in supporting a UK market for renewable fuels. In 2019, biofuel supplied under the RTFO saved 5,368kt of CO2 emissions; the equivalent of taking 2.3 million vehicles off the road for a full year.
Low carbon fuels will continue to contribute to meeting UK carbon budgets for decades to come, initially from conventional road vehicles but gradually shifting to heavier sectors such as aviation.
Biofuels are currently used in rail and are supported under the RTFO. In future assessments of long-term biofuel use in rail, we will consider the likely need for biofuels in other sectors, their potentially limited supply, and the existence of other viable low-carbon options available for powering trains.
In March 2020 the Department launched the consultation ‘Introducing E10 Petrol’ which proposed introducing petrol that contains up to 10% bioethanol, an increase from the current level of up to 5%. We are working hard to publish the Government Response as quickly as possible, and anticipate that any requirement to provide E10 would come into force in 2021. If combined with an increase in RTFO targets, the introduction of E10 could reduce CO2 emissions from road transport by a further 750,000 tonnes per year. This would be the equivalent of taking around 350,000 cars off the road.
Asked by: Alan Brown (Scottish National Party - Kilmarnock and Loudoun)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to encourage the integration of bioenergy crops into agricultural and soil management strategies.
Answered by Victoria Prentis - Attorney General
The Government supports the generation of heat and power from low carbon technologies, including those using crops and forestry biomass, helping to deliver the Net Zero greenhouse gas emissions target for 2050. The Government recently consulted on the future support for low carbon heat, which includes proposals for a Green Gas Support Scheme and a Clean Heat Grant with support for heat pumps and in some instances, biomass. Government also consulted on the introduction of E10 bioethanol transport petrol this year, where domestic production can utilise energy crops.
The Agriculture Bill contains provisions for financial assistance in England to manage land in a way that mitigates the effects of climate change, and for starting or improving the productivity of agricultural and forestry activity.
The Government recognises soil is one of our greatest natural assets and is essential for underpinning a range of benefits such as flood mitigation, food production and carbon storage. The 25 Year Environment Plan (25YEP) sets out Governments ambition to replenish depleted soil and restore its fertility so that soils are sustainably managed by 2030. In order to meet this ambition, we are developing a healthy soils indicator for England as part of 25YEP. The future monitoring scheme through the soil indicator will be able to inform us on the impact of changes in land management practices, including the wider take-up of bioenergy crops in rotations.
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: Andrew Rosindell (Conservative - Romford)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what discussions he has had with car manufacturers on the introduction of bio fuels as a sustainable alternative to fossil fuels.
Answered by Rachel Maclean
The Department supports biofuels through the Renewable Transport Fuel Obligation (RTFO), a scheme which has been successful for the past 12 years in supporting a market for biofuels. In 2018, renewable fuels supplied under the RTFO scheme, which were overwhelmingly biofuels, made up 3.1% of total road and non-road mobile machinery fuel supply.
The Department’s ministers and officials regularly consult on biofuels policy with a range of stakeholders, including vehicle manufacturers. For example, the Department has recently consulted on the introduction of E10 petrol, which would increase the amount of bioethanol in petrol vehicles. In addition, the Low Carbon Fuels Team in the Department holds quarterly meetings with industry experts to discuss our biofuels strategy. The last meeting, which I had the pleasure of speaking at, was on 25 June.
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.