New report calls for renewed cooking oil focus for petrol

Research commissioned by Olleco, a UK-based converter of used cooking oil into biodiesel, has shown that the increased use of ethanol in petrol to meet EU sustainability targets is resulting in drivers  paying extra at the pump.

The report, compiled by Chatham House, follows an increase in ethanol supply on behalf of fuel suppliers to meet the Renewable Fuel Transport Obligation (RTFO).

The RTFO requires that, by volume, 5% of the UK’s fuel supply is made up of renewable fuel by 2014. This will have to increase further under the EU Renewable Energy Directive (RED) which requires that 10% of transport energy comes from renewable sources by 2020.

Unlike some other European countries, the UK has not stipulated what fuels should be used to meet its targets. The result is that fuel suppliers are importing increasing amounts of lower priced ethanol.

‘This report shines an unflattering light on the environmental impact and cost to the consumer of the increased use of grain-derived ethanol,’ says Olleco CEO Robert Behan.

‘We have a real concern that the potential introduction of E10 in 2013 by fuel suppliers will lead to the elimination of sustainable biodiesel made from UCO and tallow from the UK fuel mix. We are calling on the government to amend the RTFO to protect the consumer and ensure that what was once a waste product remains in the UK fuel mix as the most sustainable low carbon option.’