Asked by
To ask His Majesty’s Government when they intend next to review
the renewable transport fuel obligation.
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for
Transport () (Con)
My Lords, the department continually keeps the renewable
transport fuel obligation under review to ensure that it delivers
cost-effective emission reductions and is best placed to meet our
carbon targets.
(LD)
I thank the Minister for her information, but at the last
estimate over 107,000 hectares of land in the UK grew crops for
biofuels—land that could have fed 3.5 million people. First,
given the pressure on land, the need for greater UK food security
and the global shortage of cereal crops caused by the war in
Ukraine, will the Government end biofuel production from food
crops in the UK? Secondly, on imported biofuels, will the
Government ensure that only biofuels produced from waste,
agricultural or otherwise, are imported for use in the UK?
(Con)
The Government have incredibly high standards of sustainability
for the fuels that we allow under the renewable transport fuel
obligation. As I am sure the noble Baroness is aware, many of the
crops grown for biofuels are not fit for human consumption.
However, they are grown because they are useful not only for
biofuels but for animal feedstock. There is a very careful
balance to be struck. The Government are well aware of the land
use issue and the need to be able to develop enough
human-supporting crops. As I say, we keep all of this under
review.
(CB)
My Lords, I declare my interests in the register. I have two
questions. First, what progress is being made with regulations to
enable support for nuclear-derived fuels and recycled carbon
fuels within the RTFO following the recent amendment to the
Energy Bill? Secondly, quota-based systems such as the RTFO are
being implemented in other countries for the purposes of
decarbonising ammonia and fertiliser production. What plans do
the Government have for similar schemes to clean up ammonia?
(Con)
As the noble Lord will be aware, the Energy Bill is currently
working its way through the other place. I am very pleased that
we were able to get the amendment for recycled carbon and
nuclear-derived fuels, as it goes into primary legislation. We
are working concurrently on the secondary legislation to bring
that into effect as it is needed and into the various schemes. On
ammonia and various other renewable fuels, we are looking very
carefully across the entire suite of low-carbon fuels. The
Department for Transport will be publishing a low-carbon fuel
strategy later this year.
(Lab)
My Lords, the logistics sector is calling for a stronger
partnership with government over the use of low-carbon fuels.
What arrangements will the Government put in place with the
logistics industry for this to happen, including the
much-promised publication and delivery of a low-carbon fuel
strategy? It was promised last year and then at the end of this
year. When will that be published?
(Con)
As I mentioned in the previous answer, it will be published later
this year. The low-carbon fuel strategy is incredibly important.
We have been working very closely with the freight and logistics
sectors to understand their needs in terms of decarbonisation.
For example, we have invested £200 million in the zero-emission
road freight demonstration programme. An enormous amount of work
is going on in this area. The low-carbon fuel strategy is but one
of those things.
(CB)
My Lords, I refer back to the original Question asked by the
noble Baroness, Lady Walmsley. We import 90% of the fuel we use
for transport. It is coming from land that could be used to grow
food. Last year we imported crops from Ukraine that were then
used in biofuels in this country. It is a question of due
diligence. Can the Minister reassure the House that we are
genuinely using stuff that would otherwise be wasted?
(Con)
I agree that there is an issue of due diligence here. The
Government are always willing to hear from anyone who has any
insight as to crops or biological items that may be coming from
places that are not within the sustainability criteria. It is not
fair to say that renewable fuels come from biogenic materials. It
is the case that biofuels from waste represent 76% of the
renewable fuels supplied; for example, 93% of all biodiesel comes
from used cooking oil, which has very few other uses. While I
accept that we need to look at crops and whether they are for
human consumption or not—obviously, the latter is the one we
focus on—we need to recognise that alternative sources of
bioethanol are fairly thin on the ground at the moment.
(Lab)
My Lords, the Renewable Transport Fuel Obligations Order 2007, as
amended, says in Article 1A:
“The Secretary of State must from time to time … carry out a
review of the regulatory provision contained in this Order; and …
publish a report setting out the conclusions of the review … The
first report must be published before 15th April 2023”.
Now, I think that date has passed. Has such a report been
published? I spent time with my friend Google this morning, and
after two hours, could not find it, but with the messy way our
legislation is formed, I may have missed it. If it has not been
published, why not? It is crucial that commitments such as this
are honoured.
(Con)
I agree with the noble Lord, and I accept that it should have
been published by 15 April. It is in its very final stages of
preparation and will be published as soon as possible. There is
an important component of this post-implementation review: there
will be an opportunity for feedback on the scheme as it currently
exists. Therefore, I hope that the noble Baroness, Lady Walmsley,
and anyone else with an interest will look at the
post-implementation review, consider various reports which have
recently come into the public domain, and think carefully about
how we can improve the scheme. We are always looking for
improvements, we keep the scheme under review, and I am willing
to keep an open mind.
(Con)
My Lords, does my noble friend agree that, looking at the long
term and particularly our 30 by 30 commitment on land use, we
should not be devoting agricultural crops to vehicle
fuels—certainly not ordinary vehicle fuels—and that anything we
can get from waste should be directed at aviation and other
sectors where it is extremely difficult to create substitutes,
rather than ordinary domestic road vehicles?
(Con)
The noble Lord is right. It is the case that the road vehicle
sector is at a transition moment, as we go to battery electric
and hydrogen fuel cells, but we can use it in this transition
period. We are focused on using things such as recycled carbon
fuels for sustainable aviation fuels, because we see that as a
key way to decarbonise sectors that are much harder to abate,
such as aviation. We will be looking at similar technology for
maritime, if that exists.
(LD)
My Lords, long-haul flying looks to be the most challenging
sector to decarbonise. It is likely that sustainable aviation
fuels will have a major role in doing that. Will the Minister
commit to introducing a price stability mechanism, to encourage
the development of a UK-based sustainable aviation fuel industry,
so that we have the jobs and investment coming to this country,
rather than going to our competitors overseas, as it looks like
at the moment?
(Con)
The Government have already recognised the strong case for
sustainable aviation fuel for all types of flying, whether short-
or long-haul. We will implement a sustainable aviation fuel
mandate requiring operators to use 10% SAF by 2030, which acts as
a pull on the market. Therefore, we are considering what else
needs to be done to make SAF plant projects in the UK investible.
This will not be a government-sponsored contract for difference
as the SAF mandate does an awful lot of the heavy lifting, but we
are working very closely with industry to look at an industry-led
solution to improve the revenue certainty when it comes to
SAF.
(Lab)
My Lords, is it not the case that this small island is crying out
for a land strategy policy, and that the House of Lords Land Use
in England Committee recommended that we have the strategy and
resources for it, and that all departments take part? Does the
Minister share my disappointment that this is not happening?
(Con)
I understand that it is happening, but I am slightly more excited
by the biomass strategy, which will look at all the elements of
biomass—what their potential uses are for our domestic
environmental goals but also how they interact with our
land-based goals. Therefore, we will also have the opportunity to
look at our sustainability criteria, and how they can be
strengthened in the context of looking at land strategy.
