According to the first quarterly report on the Renewable Transport Fuel Obligation (RTFO), fuel firms Harvest Energy and Mabanaft are currently exceeding the specified targets for sustainability, while Esso and BP are amongst those failing to meet the target.

During the first quarter period, biofuels accounted for 2.61%, exceeding the first year target of 2.5%. As expected, the majority of the fuel was biodiesel, which accounted for 84% of the supply compared to 16% which came from bioethanol.

20% of biofuels met the sustainability targets set by the Renewable Fuels Agency (RFA); against a target for the year of 30% and 97% of UK feedstocks met environmental standards. Carbon savings (which do not currently allow for ‘indirect effects’ as recommended by the Gallagher Review) averaged 44% during the first quarter, again exceeding the first year target of 40%.

In a statement, the RFA made preliminary observations about individual suppliers. Almost all the suppliers either achieved, or were close to achieving carbon savings in line with the Government's target for 2008-09. Harvest Energy, Greenergy, Mabanaft and Shell exceeded the target. Although ConocoPhillips reported a negative carbon saving, and Chevron reported very low carbon savings, the Agency said that these may be revised during the auditing process. Several companies (BP, Esso, Murco, Prax and Topaz) have so far failed to report any biofuels as meeting the qualifying environmental standard. Of these, Prax and Topaz have also failed to report the origin of their biofuels.

The RFA confirmed that Esso, Petroplus, Prax and Topaz are currently failing to meet any of the three targets set by Government.

Commenting on the report, Nick Goodall, Chief Executive Officer of the Office of the Renewable Fuels Agency (RFA) said, “These early figures demonstrate that some companies have risen to the challenge of sourcing biofuels that meet good sustainability standards.”

The report also pointed out that, ‘The ability of suppliers to source certifiably sustainable fuels is currently limited.’ However, Greenpeace said that 12 per cent of the biofuel sold was made from palm oil. “By putting cheaper crops like palm oil into our fuel tanks companies are actually contributing to climate change while driving the destruction of Indonesia's rainforests and peatland,” it said. Greenpeace chief scientist Dr Doug Parr said the report would make “grim reading” for the new Transport Secretary Geoff Hoon.

He said: “It's time the Prime Minister stepped in and scrapped these compulsory targets for biofuels because without safeguards in place they are quite clearly a disaster for the world's forests and a major obstacle in the fight against climate change.”

Sources: various