Asked by: Nic Dakin (Labour - Scunthorpe)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will meet with the hon. Member for Scunthorpe and representatives of the British bioethanol industry.
Answered by Jesse Norman
It is the Department’s hope to publish a formal response to the consultation paper, “E10 petrol, consumer protection and fuel pump labelling”, in the New Year. The Department has received a number of representations on behalf of the British bioethanol industry since the consultation closed in September. I spoke to the Managing Director of Vivergo Fuels shortly after the company announced cessation of production at their plant in Hull, and am happy to meet with the hon. Member for Scunthorpe and representatives of the British bioethanol industry.
The Government recognises that the domestic bioethanol industry has faced difficult trading conditions in recent months due to increased wheat prices and low bioethanol prices. In increasing targets under the Renewable Transport Fuel Obligation (RTFO) in April, the Government made clear that moving to E10 fuel could make achieving the UK’s renewable energy targets easier and provide wider economic benefits. It is the Government’s hope that both of the UK bioethanol plants that announced suspensions in production recently will be able to restart production in the future
Asked by: Nic Dakin (Labour - Scunthorpe)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent representations he has received from the British bioethanol industry on the sustainability of that sector; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Jesse Norman
It is the Department’s hope to publish a formal response to the consultation paper, “E10 petrol, consumer protection and fuel pump labelling”, in the New Year. The Department has received a number of representations on behalf of the British bioethanol industry since the consultation closed in September. I spoke to the Managing Director of Vivergo Fuels shortly after the company announced cessation of production at their plant in Hull, and am happy to meet with the hon. Member for Scunthorpe and representatives of the British bioethanol industry.
The Government recognises that the domestic bioethanol industry has faced difficult trading conditions in recent months due to increased wheat prices and low bioethanol prices. In increasing targets under the Renewable Transport Fuel Obligation (RTFO) in April, the Government made clear that moving to E10 fuel could make achieving the UK’s renewable energy targets easier and provide wider economic benefits. It is the Government’s hope that both of the UK bioethanol plants that announced suspensions in production recently will be able to restart production in the future
Asked by: Nic Dakin (Labour - Scunthorpe)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment his Department has made of the halting of production by Vivergo and other British bioethanol manufacturers on the sustainability of the British bioethanol industry.
Answered by Jesse Norman
It is the Department’s hope to publish a formal response to the consultation paper, “E10 petrol, consumer protection and fuel pump labelling”, in the New Year. The Department has received a number of representations on behalf of the British bioethanol industry since the consultation closed in September. I spoke to the Managing Director of Vivergo Fuels shortly after the company announced cessation of production at their plant in Hull, and am happy to meet with the hon. Member for Scunthorpe and representatives of the British bioethanol industry.
The Government recognises that the domestic bioethanol industry has faced difficult trading conditions in recent months due to increased wheat prices and low bioethanol prices. In increasing targets under the Renewable Transport Fuel Obligation (RTFO) in April, the Government made clear that moving to E10 fuel could make achieving the UK’s renewable energy targets easier and provide wider economic benefits. It is the Government’s hope that both of the UK bioethanol plants that announced suspensions in production recently will be able to restart production in the future
Asked by: Nic Dakin (Labour - Scunthorpe)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what the timetable is for the publication of the Government’s response to the consultation on E10 petrol, consumer protection and fuel pump labelling.
Answered by Jesse Norman
It is the Department’s hope to publish a formal response to the consultation paper, “E10 petrol, consumer protection and fuel pump labelling”, in the New Year. The Department has received a number of representations on behalf of the British bioethanol industry since the consultation closed in September. I spoke to the Managing Director of Vivergo Fuels shortly after the company announced cessation of production at their plant in Hull, and am happy to meet with the hon. Member for Scunthorpe and representatives of the British bioethanol industry.
The Government recognises that the domestic bioethanol industry has faced difficult trading conditions in recent months due to increased wheat prices and low bioethanol prices. In increasing targets under the Renewable Transport Fuel Obligation (RTFO) in April, the Government made clear that moving to E10 fuel could make achieving the UK’s renewable energy targets easier and provide wider economic benefits. It is the Government’s hope that both of the UK bioethanol plants that announced suspensions in production recently will be able to restart production in the future
Asked by: John Spellar (Labour - Warley)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what proportion of bio-ethanol fuel comes from sources in (a) the UK, (b) the EU and (c) the rest of the world.
Answered by Jesse Norman
The Department publishes regular statistics covering the volume of biofuel reported under the Renewable Transport Fuel Obligation. This data includes feedstock and country of origin at:
https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/biofuels-statistics
The latest full year’s verified data is in report 6 from obligation year 9 (2016/17). It shows that 1,541 million litres of renewable fuel was supplied, of which 49 per cent was bioethanol. This is a total of 758 million litres of bioethanol. Of this total amount, 218 million litres (29 percent) is produced from UK feedstocks, 429 million litres, (57 percent) is produced from feedstocks sourced from elsewhere in the EU, and 111 million litres (15 percent) is produced from feedstocks sourced from the rest of the world.
Asked by: Royston Smith (Conservative - Southampton, Itchen)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what financial incentives the Government makes available to (a) purchase a car that runs on LPG fuel and (b) convert a car to run on LPG fuel.
Answered by Robert Jenrick
The government uses the tax system to encourage the purchase of cars with low carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions. The Vehicle Excise Duty (VED) system works in a technology-neutral manner to encourage the uptake of fuel efficient, low CO2 emitting models irrespective of whether they are fuelled by petrol, diesel or battery power.
From 1 March 2001, alternatively fuelled cars, including those powered by Liquid Petroleum Gas (LPG) and bioethanol, as well as hybrids, receive a £10 discount on their annual VED payment.
LPG incurs a tax rate of £0.3161 per kg. This is compared with petrol or diesel, which has a tax rate of £0.5795 per litre. At Autumn Budget 2017, we also scrapped the LPG escalator.
Asked by: Royston Smith (Conservative - Southampton, Itchen)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of reducing vehicle tax for motorists who drive LPG cars.
Answered by Robert Jenrick
The government uses the tax system to encourage the purchase of cars with low carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions. The Vehicle Excise Duty (VED) system works in a technology-neutral manner to encourage the uptake of fuel efficient, low CO2 emitting models irrespective of whether they are fuelled by petrol, diesel or battery power.
From 1 March 2001, alternatively fuelled cars, including those powered by Liquid Petroleum Gas (LPG) and bioethanol, as well as hybrids, receive a £10 discount on their annual VED payment.
LPG incurs a tax rate of £0.3161 per kg. This is compared with petrol or diesel, which has a tax rate of £0.5795 per litre. At Autumn Budget 2017, we also scrapped the LPG escalator.
Asked by: Lord Truscott (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they intend to increase biofuel use for transport in the UK by raising the blend level of biofuels in fuel, and introducing the use of E10 fuel, a mix of petrol with ten per cent bioethanol.
Answered by Baroness Sugg
Subject to Parliamentary approval, we plan to amend the Renewable Transport Fuel Obligation to increase targets for the supply of renewable fuels from April 2018. We have established a working group with industry to consider the possible introduction of E10 fuel.
Asked by: Baroness Randerson (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact of delays to legislation on the Renewable Transport Fuel Obligation on companies producing bioethanol.
Answered by Baroness Sugg
Subject to Parliamentary approval, we plan to amend the Renewable Transport Fuel Obligation to increase targets for the supply of renewable fuels from April 2018.
In September we published “The Renewable Transport Fuel Obligations Order, Government response to the consultation on amendments”. Annex A of that Government Response includes analysis of the costs and benefits of the proposals, including the impacts on the competitiveness of UK industry through an estimate of the gross value added to the UK economy by the biofuels industry under the proposed amendments. That analysis is based on an increase in targets set from 2018 to 2032.
Asked by: Tom Brake (Liberal Democrat - Carshalton and Wallington)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment his Department has made of the effect of falling bio-ethanol prices on the (a) operation and (b) future of the UK bio-ethanol industry.
Answered by Jesse Norman
The price of bioethanol is set by the global fuels market and a range of factors will influence this, including production and raw material costs and the relative price of fuels and other commodities.
In September the Government published its response to a consultation on proposed amendments to the Renewable Transport Fuel Obligation. It is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/renewable-transport-fuel-obligations-order-government-response. The analysis of the costs and benefits of the proposals included in Annex A of that document identifies market price developments i.e. how renewable fuel prices change in relation to fossil fuel prices, as an area with some uncertainty. To address this uncertainty, the analysis considers the impact of our proposals under low, central and high projections of the price spreads between renewable fuels and fossil fuels.
The 15 year strategy for renewable transport fuels provided by the Government’s Response is designed to provide a strong and growing market in the UK which should benefit existing domestic investments as well as encouraging further opportunities in this area.