The article opens with the statement “The UK government is investigating a fast-growing “green fuel” called HVO diesel amid claims of significant fraud, the BBC has learned” and can be found here.
The Renewable Transport Fuel Association is supportive of the Department of Transport’s efforts to investigate any fraudulent activity in the imported biofuels market. Our industry – the UK renewable fuels industry – is rightly proud of our high standards of traceability and sustainability, and anything that tarnishes our image (by association) should be rooted out.
DfT has recently updated its guidance to allow it to make fuller investigations of supply chains where the origins of the feedstocks may be unclear. Whilst this may add additional administration for some supply chains, it is worth it to ensure only genuinely sustainable biofuels are supplied in the UK.
It is also worth noting that as well as having the strictest sustainability criteria in the world for biofuels, the UK also has a (currently) unique SAF mandate, that will see the levels of HEFA supplied capped from 2027 to incentivise the manufacture of SAF from different wastes, such as end-of-life tyres or municipal waste. HEFA is aviation fuel made from the same oily wastes that HVO is made from.
Also – for wider context – note that the recent substantial increases in imports of HVO from China (and USA) are potentially due to deliberate dumping of subsidised material into the UK market. The RTFA has consistently pointed out that subsidised / dumped imports from China are causing harm to the UK biofuels producers, and has successfully requested that the Trade Remedies Authority (TRA) launches a review of these imports (see https://www.trade-remedies.service.gov.uk/public/case/AD0058/)
