HVO imported into UK from US as part of post-Brexit deal

The UK and Ireland Fuel Distributors Association (UKIFDA) revealed its member Mitchell and Webber undertook the first lifting of US imported hydrotreated vegetable oil (HVO) at the Valero terminal in Cardiff.
This follows a decision by the then Department of International Trade in November 2022 to lift import tariffs on US HVO - previously imposed when the UK was a member of the European Union.
UKIFDA and OFTEC, representing the liquid fuel industry, proposed an innovative approach that will deliver decarbonisation to UK off gas grid homes and businesses quicker, cheaper and with the least amount of disruption.
The industry has demonstrated across 150 homes and businesses in the UK that HVO can be used as a direct replacement for heating oil, reducing carbon emissions by up to 88%.
Ken Cronin, CEO of UKIFDA, commented: “I am delighted to see this fuel being delivered. We have an ambition to convert as many of the 1.7m homes as possible that use heating oil to HVO, reducing their carbon emissions but also avoiding the very high upfront costs of alternative decarbonisation technologies such as heat pumps.”
Robert Weedon, Managing Director of Cornwall-based Mitchell and Webber said: “This first batch of Valero’s HVO will be going to businesses in Cornwall. This initiative sits alongside our HVO village, Kehelland, where we have schools, churches and residential homes that have been using HVO successfully for over a year. The process of converting to HVO could not be easier and can be done during a normal boiler service appointment.”
UKIFDA recently submitted new evidence to the UK government that showed the raw materials (feedstocks) used to produce renewable fuels in Europe and the US far outweigh the demand and confirmed that there would be sufficient quantities to meet the UK home heating oil market.