01/02/2009 (New Energy Focus) - Major fuel suppliers are continuing to fail government targets to supply biofuels that meet environmental standards, according to new figures released by the Renewable Fuels Agency, writes James Cartledge.

Five companies - Esso, Chevron, Murco, Prax and Topaz - have failed to report any biofuels being supplied within UK transport fuel as meeting any environmental standards.

Nine companies are performing "well below" their targets, including BP, which managed to report just 4% of its biofuels as meeting standards recognised by the Agency.

The figures came yesterday, the day after the Advertising Standards Authority ruled against the US ethanol industry for placing adverts into UK newspapers claiming that biofuels were a "sustainable" alternative to oil-based fuels.

"Disappointed"
The Renewable Fuels Agency - an agency attached to the Department of Transport, which regulates laws requiring UK fuel suppliers to include a growing proportion of biofuels within transport petrol and diesel - said yesterday it was "disappointed" with the "poor" performances of many of the fuel suppliers.

According to the figures, 670 million litres of biofuel was supplied to the UK transport market in the first six months of the legal requirements coming into force. From April to October 2008, just 20% of that biofuel met a recognised environmental standard.

The government has set a voluntary target for 30% of biofuels to meet environmental standards this year, rising to 50% next year and 80% in 2010/11.

But even the 30% target is now seen as "extremely challenging" by the Agency, which told New Energy Focus yesterday that "with five fossil fuel companies not reporting any fuel meeting an environmental standard at all, and several others underperforming, the overall target will be very hard to reach."

The figures are much better for biofuels made in the UK - 98% of which met an environmental standard. But, just 8% of biofuels supplied to UK forecourts came from British production plants according to the figures.

A handful of fuel suppliers are bucking the overall trends and performing fairly well on biofuels - notably Greenergy, supplier of fuels to Tesco forecourts, which met all government targets for sustainability including the "gold standard" of meeting a social sustainability standard.

ConocoPhillips and Mabanaft are also meeting government targets for sustainability reporting according to the RFA.

Nick Goodall, chief executive of the Agency, said: "We believe that biofuels should be sustainable. The first half year's experience of the RTFO in the UK, and the good performance of several companies, are demonstrating that the biofuels industry can meet sustainability standards. The challenge for us now is to raise performance across the board."

Not "sustainable"
Wednesday saw the UK's Advertising Standards Authority revealing one of its latest rulings was against the American ethanol industry - in the form of the Renewable Fuels Association - for claiming that biofuels are "sustainable".

The ruling came after a challenge from environmentalist George Monbiot about the Association's adverts for biofuels in UK national newspapers.

Based on evidence provided by the UK's own Renewable Fuels Agency, and its chairman Prof Ed Gallagher through last year's Gallagher Review, the ASA told the US trade body it could not repeat advertising in Britain stating that biofuels were "sustainable".

"At the present time, references to biofuels in general as 'sustainable' were likely to mislead," the ASA ruling stated.

Greenhouse gas savings
Yesterday's first-half RTFO figures reveal that some biofuels are achieving very high greenhouse gas savings - particularly those based on tallow or used cooking oil, which are saving more than 80% of emissions compared to use of fossil fuels.

On average, fuel suppliers to the UK market are achieving government-set voluntary targets to achieve 40% greenhouse gas savings, achieving 47% in the first half, slightly up on the 44% average in the first three months of the scheme.

However, biofuels sourced from US soy - which includes 26% of all biodiesel supplied to the UK transport sector - pulled the average down, with much lower greenhouse gas savings, in the order of 30%. A small fraction of biofuels sourced from US oil seed rape even presented negative carbon savings - they were effectively worse for the environment than oil-based petrol.

The most controversial biofuel feedstock - palm oil - provides 12% of biodiesel and 10% of biofuels overall, according to the new figures.

In terms of changing land-use, which is not yet covered by the Renewable Fuel Agency's figures on greenhouse gas savings, but which the Agency is working to include within its developing "meta-standard", some 44% of biofuels crops replaced existing cropland, but a large proportion - 42% - of biofuels had an unknown agricultural background.

Some 14% of biofuels came from by-products, seen as a better source of feedstocks, while the Agency noted that the second quarter of biofuels figures included for the very first time a small amount (a fraction of a percent of total) of biogas used for road transport.

"Bio-methane produced by anaerobic digestion of organic landfill waste or manure is a good example of a sustainable biofuel," the Agency said.

The voluntary reporting standards on biofuels are expected to lead to a mandatory system, which should be enforced from 2011 under Europe's new Renewable Energy Directive.

The Agency believes its development of a "meta-standard" including a variety of existing, recognised environmental and social standards for biofuels, will push suppliers to provide better biofuels.

But, until "comprehensive" mandatory sustainability standards and controls on in-direct effects of biofuels production are in place, it told New Energy Focus there would continue to be "good and bad biofuels".

Aaron Berry, the Agency's head of carbon and sustainability, insisted: "The RTFO is encouraging suppliers to adopt best practice on sustainability. The RTFO is, after all, intended to create a market for biofuels meeting this meta-standard."