Guidance

Renewable fuel statistics: Notes and definitions

Updated 5 August 2021

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The Department for Transport (DfT) renewable fuel statistics releases represent the most up-to-date information on renewable fuels supplied to the UK. Renewable fuels are any fuels that are produced from a renewable energy source and include both fuels originating from biomass (biofuels) and Renewable Fuels of Non-Biological Origin (RFNBOs).

To be verified as renewable, the fuel has to pass mandatory carbon and sustainability criteria. This includes the requirement that renewable fuels must provide at least a 50% reduction in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions compared to fossil fuels.

Figure 1: Overview of a typical process of making renewable fuels

Alternate text for Figure 1 is provided later in this document.

Legislation

There are 2 pieces of UK legislation that relate to renewable fuels. Both include mandatory carbon and sustainability which must be met. These are:

1. Renewable Transport Fuel Obligation (RTFO) Order: The RTFO encourages the supply of renewable fuels by requiring that a certain proportion of fuel supplied to the UK is renewable. The RTFO is one of the UK Government’s main policies for reducing GHG emissions from road transport. The RTFO commenced on 15 April 2008 originally to implement the transport elements of the EU Renewable Energy Directive (RED). The RTFO includes mandatory carbon and sustainability criteria for renewable fuels.

2. Motor Fuel Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Emissions Reporting Regulations: The GHG reporting regulations initially required the annual reporting by transport fuel suppliers on the amount, energy content and GHG emissions of relevant fuels supplied. From 2019, a new requirement was introduced for fuel suppliers to achieve at least a 6% reduction in life cycle GHG emissions from the transport fuel that they supply in 2020, relative to the EU average life cycle GHG emissions from fossil fuels in 2010. From 2021 onwards there is no longer a GHG emission reduction target although the requirement for fuel suppliers to report GHG emissions continues.

Renewable Transport Fuel Obligation

Under the RTFO, suppliers of more than 450,000 litres of road transport fuel and non-road mobile machinery (NRMM) fuel to the UK must supply a set proportion of their supply from renewable fuels, per year. This proportion increases each year as set out in the RTFO Order guidance.

The obligation is met by redeeming Renewable Transport Fuel Certificates (RTFCs), which are awarded by the RTFO Administrator to companies that have supplied renewable fuels meeting set carbon and sustainability, land use and biodiversity criteria. Suppliers can meet up to 25% of their obligation using excess RTFCs from the previous obligation period.

To meet their obligation, suppliers have 3 options:

1. Supply renewable fuel which meets the carbon and sustainability requirements in order to receive RTFCs.
2. Buy RTFCs from other companies.
3. Pay a ‘buy-out’ price - this is set at 30p per RTFC litre of renewable fuel that otherwise would have been needed to meet their obligation.

The number of RTFCs issued for renewable fuels can vary:

1. Based on feedstock:
   • crop based feedstocks are issued one RTFC per litre/kg of renewable fuel supplied
   • fuel from certain wastes or residues, fuel from dedicated energy crops, and RFNBOs are incentivised by awarding double the RTFCs per litre/kg supplied
2. Based on whether fuel is gas or liquid:
   • biogases (biomethane, biobutane and biopropane) receive a number of RTFCs in proportion to their energy content per kg. For example, biomethane receive 1.9 RTFCs/kg

Renewable fuels produced in installations which started operating after 5 October 2015 must deliver at least a 60% saving, otherwise fuels produced in older installations must make a 50% saving.

For 2018 onwards, there are 3 RTFC categories based on the type of feedstock the fuel is made from general, relevant crop and development fuel (introduced in 2019).

Relevant crop - renewable fuels made from crops such as sugar and wheat. The amended RED set a maximum on the amount of crop-derived renewable fuels which may be counted towards renewable transport targets. This crop cap was introduced in 2018 (April to December) and will begin at 4% of a suppliers total relevant fuel supply decreasing to 3% by 2026 and 2% by 2032.

Development fuel - a fuel made from certain sustainable wastes or residues or a RFNBO and is also a specified fuel type (see RTFO guidance). This was introduced from 1 January 2019 onwards.

General - everything that is not a development fuel or relevant crop.

There have been several related changes as legislation has been amended or EU directives implemented. A timetable of changes is provided below.

Figure 2: Timetable of legislative changes to the RTFO

Alternate text for Figure 2 is provided later in this document.

For further information please see the RTFO Order guidance.

Motor Fuel Greenhouse Gas Reporting Regulations

The GHG Reporting Regulations is the UK legislation which implemented the EU Fuell Quality Directive (FQD). This legislation required that the whole fuel production process reduced GHG emissions compared to the EU 2010 baseline figure (94.1 gCO2e/MJ) by 4% in 2019 (90.34 gCO2e/MJ) and 6% in 2020 (88.45 gCO2e/MJ).

The GHG Reporting Regulations are met by redeeming GHG credits. One GHG credit is equivalent to one kg of GHG emissions saved (kgCO2e) compared to the fuel baseline for the year. If a fuel supplied has a GHG emission intensity above the target level for the relevant year, this is added to a fuels supplier’s GHG obligation.

GHG credits can be awarded to a wide variety of fuels:

• sustainable renewable fuels
• electricity used in road transport
• upstream emission reductions (UERs)
• fossil fuels which can have GHG intensity below the 2020 GHG target such as liquid petroleum gas (LPG) or compressed natural gas (CNG)
• fossil fuels which have a GHG intensity below the 2020 GHG target levels once a powertrain efficiency factor is accounted for such as natural gas-derived hydrogen used in a fuel cell electric vehicle (FCEV)

There is no double rewarding or carry-over GHG credits to the next year, in contrast to the RTFO.

From 2021 onwards, there is no GHG reduction target in the UK, although the reporting requirements of the GHG Reporting Regulations continue.

For further information please see the GHG Reporting Regulations guidance.

Carbon and Sustainability reporting criteria

Both the RTFO and GHG Reporting Regulations have strict carbon and sustainability criteria which fuels must meet to be classified as renewable and thus receive RTFCs or GHG credits respectively. The carbon and sustainability data must be independently verified.

The criteria are:

• renewable fuels produced in installations on or before 5 October 2015 must achieve at least a 50% GHG emissions saving. Renewable fuels produced in newer installations which started operating after 5 October 2015 must deliver at least a 60% GHG emission savings
• biofuels may not be made from raw material obtained from land with high biodiversity value in or after January 2008
• biofuels may not be made from raw material obtained from land with high carbon stock such as forests or land that was undrained peatland in January 2008 unless strict criteria are met

It is necessary to be able to track carbon and sustainability data back to its original source to verify the fuel. Mass balance (or a more stringent system) is the only chain of custody system permitted. A mass balance system requires suppliers throughout the supply chain to account for their product on a units in - units out basis, but does not require the physical separation of certified feedstock or fuel from uncertified material. It ensures that for every unit of sustainable renewable fuel sold the corresponding sustainable feedstock has been produced.

For more information, please see the Carbon and Sustainability part of the RTFO guidance.

Sources of data

Suppliers use the RTFO Operating System (ROS) to report fuel volumes, submit RTFC applications and to redeem and trade RTFCs. ROS, therefore has information on:

• fuel volumes - these are validated against HMRC duty payment data
• Carbon and Sustainability information
• RTFCs information, such as issued, redeemed, surrendered and transfers

Fuel volumes submitted by suppliers are validated against HMRC tax duty payment data. This HMRC data is published in the Hydrocarbon Oils bulletin.

The GHG Operating System (GOS) is the online database where GHG credits are issued and awarded as well as where supplier’s GHG obligations are calculated as required under the GHG Reporting Regulations. If a supplier has already submitted information on fuel under ROS it is automatically updated in GOS. However, non-obligated suppliers under the RTFO can submit their fuel volumes alongside carbon and sustainability information (if applicable) directly through GOS.

Strength and weaknesses of the data

The data is validated in several ways:

1. Carbon and Sustainability data is verified by independent verifiers and is checked against the RTFO Guidance by the RTFO Administrator. The proportion of fuel verified by each voluntary scheme is found in table RF_0106.
2. The Administrator validates fuel volumes submitted by fuel suppliers against that held by HMRC regarding fuel duty liabilities.

However, there is not an exact match between fuel volumes reported here in renewable fuels and fuel volumes reported in HMRC’s Hydrocarbon Oils bulletin.

Reasons for this include:

• fuel volumes may change over time even after validation against HMRC data as suppliers make amendments to the fuel volumes they have supplied (and the relevant duty liabilities)
• fuel can be categorised differently under the RTFO and by HMRC. In particular, the RTFO records fuels based on how renewable they are, but HMRC use duty codes. For example, petrol used as denaturant in ethanol is recorded as ethanol by HMRC and petrol under the RTFO
• calendar month and quarterly duty payments can be recorded against different supply periods under the RTFO and by HMRC (typically these are a month different)
• adjustments in duty payments can be recorded in different periods. HMRC record adjustments in the month the adjustment occurs and while this is usually the practice under the RTFO, there can be exceptions around the change in years (and previously obligation periods)
• road duty can be paid on fuel that is later proven to be for non-road use

Reporting timetable

From 2019, the reporting period is each calendar year. From 2008 to April 2018, the obligation period was the 15 April one year to 14 April the next and 2018 was a short year (April to December) to account for the change to calendar year. Reports are published quarterly in February, May, August and November and there are 6 reports published for each year.

Each report with replace the previous report for that year with the first 5 (or in the 2018 short year, 4) reports being provisional and the sixth report is final. The final report will report on the carbon and sustainability performance of individual suppliers. All final reports are available on the DfT’s statistics website. The timetable for the statistics releases in 2021 and 2022 is shown in the table below:

Notes about the published tables

Data on renewable fuels is split into separate series based on whether they are reporting to the RTFO or the GHG Reporting Regulations. Tables RF_01XX correspond to data awarded under the RTFO and Tables RF_02XX include data awarded under the GHG Reporting Regulations. There will be no GHG Reporting Regulation tables for 2021 onwards as the GHG emission reduction target on which they reported has ended.

RTFO Tables

RF_0101: Volumes of fuels by fuel type

Contains information about all fuel submitted under the RTFO. It includes both the fuel verified as renewable under the RTFO as well as fuel waiting to be verified as renewable, and fossil fuel volumes.

This table was previously called RTFO_01.

RF_0102: Volumes of renewable fuel to which RTFCs have been issued and the number of RTFCs issued

Suppliers can apply for RTFCs up to 5 months after the end of the year. Carbon and sustainability data is only reported one the RTFCs have been issued. Therefore, there will be a difference between the volume of renewable fuel supplied and the volume of renewable fuel that RTFCs have been awarded to (and corresponding carbon and sustainability data available). The difference will decrease with each successive report until the last RTFCs have been awarded and the final report of the year is published.

HO930 and Ho10s are HMRC road fuel duty return forms. This table includes RTFCs issued to HO930 companies for an additional month than is allowed for HO10 companies, as the Administrator allows HO930 companies to provide proof of payment of duty ahead of that being provided by HMRC. Where such proof is provided, and the Administrator is satisfied that the sustainability criteria have been met, RTFCs will be issued a month earlier than for HO10 companies which can only be validated with HMRC data.

This table was previously called RTFO_02.

RF_0103: RTFC balances by obligation period

This table contains information about RTFCs which have been issued to fuel verified as renewable under the RTFO. RTFCs classed as still in existence are RTFCs which have not been redeemed when the final statistics were produced.

This table was previously called RTFO_03.

RF_0104: RTFCs transferred by quarter certificate category and RTFO account holder type

Contains information on the trades and transactions of RTFCs.

This table was previously called RTFO_04.

RF_0105: Carbon and sustainability data of renewable transport fuel

Provides a detailed breakdown of each renewable fuel by fuel type, feedstock and country of origin. This table only includes information about fuel which has been verified as renewable. The carbon intensities can be the default values as specified in the RED, or actual values provided by suppliers.

This table was previously called RTFO_04.

RF_0106: Voluntary scheme data of renewable transport fuel

Shows the proportion of fuel certified by voluntary schemes. This table only includes information about fuel which has been verified as renewable.

This table was previously called RTFO_06.

RF_0107: Performance against obligation (only published in the final report)

Shows each company’s progress against their obligation since 2008 and whether they met their obligation using RTFCs or a buy-out price. This table only includes information about fuel which has been verified as renewable.

This table was previously called RTFO_07.

RF_0108a: Feedstock by supplier as a percentage of their supply and RF_0108b: Country of origin by supplier as a percentage of their supply (only published in the final report)

Show the proportion of a supplier’s renewable fuel supply by feedstock and country of origin. This table only includes information about fuel which has been verified as renewable. In RF_0108b country names have been abbreviated based on officially assigned ISO country codes.

This table was previously called RTFO_08.

RF_0109: Percentage of renewable fuel supply that was demonstrated to be sustainable (only published in the final report)

Shows the proportion of fuel with has been verified as renewable by supplier.

This table was previously called RTFO_09.

RF_0110: Carbon and sustainability data by supplier (only published in the final report)

Shows the carbon and sustainability data of renewable fuels for each supplier. The table includes information on the percentage of renewable fuels in each land use category, the percentage of fuels reported via a voluntary scheme and the average carbon intensity and GHG saving including and excluding indirect land-use change (ILUC).

This table was previously called RTFO_10.

RF_0111: Fuel supply by volume and energy: UK (only published in the final report)

Shows the fuel volume and energy (with and without double counting) supplied from fossil and renewable fuels. The progress towards RED2020 target is also reported. This table contains information about all fuel submitted under the RTFO. This includes both the fuel verified as renewable by the RTFO team as well as either that waiting to be verified as renewable and fossil fuel volumes.

This table was previously called RTFO_11.

RF_0112: Civil penalties issued under the RTFO Order and GHG Reporting Regulations (only published in the final report)

Shows the civil penalties issued under the RTFO Order and the GHG Reporting Regulations by company, reason and value of penalties issued.

This table was previously called RTFO_12.

RF_0113: Supplier performance against GHG reporting requirements (only published in the final report)

Shows whether the supplier met the GHG Reporting Requirements.

This table was previously called RTFO_13.

RF_0114: Total GHG and carbon emission savings: United Kingdom (only published in the final report)

Shows the GHG savings (percentage and total) as a result of renewable transport fuels rewarded through the RTFO. Historical data is provided back to the reporting period 2008 to 2009.

GHG Reporting Regulations Tables

RF_0201: Fuel volume and GHG savings supplied by fuel type

Contains information about all fuel submitted under the RTFO and GHG Reporting Regulations. It includes both the fuel verified as renewable by the RTFO unit as well as, fuel waiting to be verified as renewable and fossil fuel volumes. The GHG savings and credits awarded to verified renewable fuel is shown.

RF_0202: Greenhouse gas savings by fuel type, carbon intensity and credits issued

Contains the detailed breakdown of fuel volume and GHG savings by GHG reporting category, fuel type and feedstock. The GHG savings and credits of verified renewable fuel is shown.

RF_0203: Trading transactions of GHG credits

Shows trades of GHG credits between HMRC volume types. April to June 2019 was the first quarter for which trading was possible.

Term	Definition
Biofuel	Liquid or gaseous fuel for transport produced from biomass.
Country of origin	The country the feedstock originated in. For crop-based feedstocks this is where the crop was cultivated and for wastes or agricultural residues this is where the material was formed, for example, the restaurant for used cooking oil. The country of origin is only allowed to be reported as ‘unknown’ where other carbon and sustainability data demonstrates compliance with the sustainability criteria of the RED. For example, if an EU recognised voluntary scheme is reported and the material is a waste or non-agricultural residue and therefore land criteria and cultivation emissions do not apply.
Feedstock	Any material of biological origin that is used to produce a fuel, or a renewable source other than biomass used to produce a RFNBO.
HO10s	HO10 is a HMRC road fuel duty return form. Suppliers in this category are fossil fuel suppliers and biofuel suppliers who report fuel volumes to both HMRC and the Administrator on the basis between day 15 of one month and day 14 of the next month. The designation is used by the Administrator in categorising RTFO account holders on ROS.
HO930s	The HO930 is a HMRC road fuel duty return form. Suppliers who use this form are renewable fuel only suppliers who report fuel volumes on a calendar month or quarterly basis to both HMRC and the Administrator.
Obligated supplier	An obligated supplier is one that supplies over 450,000 litres/kg of road transport fuel. Obligated companies typically supply more than 95% of the biofuels in the UK market.
Obligation period	The obligation period before 2018 ran from 15 April in one year to 14 April in the following year. In 2018, the obligation period was 15 April to 31 December to account for changing from financial years to calendar year. Since 2019, the obligation period has followed calendar years (1 January to 31 December).
Non-obligated supplier	A fuel supplier who supplies less than 450,000 litres/kg of road and NRMM fuel. Non-obligated companies are not required to report volumes to the RTFO unit, but if they supply renewable fuel can choose to do so to earn RTFCs which can be traded.
Previous land use	The use of the land for growing biofuel crops in January 2008. The previous land use can affect the greenhouse gas emissions due to carbon stored in the soil being released when the land in cleared and farmed. There are 13 categories. If the land criteria has met in most voluntary schemes recognised by the European Commission, it is permitted to report ‘voluntary scheme - met land criteria’. Wastes and non-agricultural residues (for example, used cooking oil) do not require any land and therefore are not required to meet any previous land use criteria to meet RED sustainability criteria.
Pure bio oil	Oils of biological origin used directly in vehicles (that is, without any further processing).
Renewable Energy Directive (RED)	The EU directive for encouraging the use of renewable energy sources. The RTFO order was originally used to implement the transport elements of this directive. Under the RED, the UK was set a target to have 10% of all fuel supplied as renewable by 2020. The RED also sets out sustainability criteria which fuels must meet, carbon stocks and biodiversity criteria and sets minimum greenhouse gas savings.
Renewable Fuel	A fuel originating from renewable energy sources.
Renewable Fuel of Non-Biological Origin (RFNBO)	A liquid of gaseous fuel that is used in transport where the energy content of the fuel comes from renewable sources other than biomass and is not made from a carbon source that has been generated for the purpose of converting it into a fuel for use in transport.
Renewable fuel volume targets	Obligated suppliers must supply a certain percentage of their road transport fuel as renewable fuel. They can do this by supplying the renewable fuel, buying RTFCs or paying a ‘buy-out’ price. The volume targets are set out in the RTFO Order.
Renewable Transport Fuel Certificates (RTFCs)	Digital certificates that verify renewable fuel has been supplied. One RTFC is issued per litre/kg of liquid/gaseous renewable fuel, but wastes/non-agricultural residues are double-awarded so receive 2 RTFCs per litre/kg of renewable fuel supplied.
Renewable Transport Fuel Obligation (RTFO)	The obligation as defined in UK legislation that requires fuel suppliers providing more than 450,000 litres/kg of fuel to the UK to also provide a percentage of renewable fuel. These are implemented in the Renewable Transport Fuel Obligation Order 2007.
Traders	RTFO user on ROS who buys and sells RTFCs.
Voluntary scheme	Sustainability assurance schemes recognised as demonstrating compliance with one or more of the sustainability criteria. The latest table of voluntary schemes can be found in the RTFO guidance.

Accessibility

This section provides notes on Figure 1 and Figure 2, where alternative text is not possible to provide within character limits.

Figure 1: Overview of a typical process of making renewable fuels

The materials renewable fuels are made from are typically a form of biomass known as feedstocks. These are either grown specifically to process into fuel or are waste products such as food waste. These feedstocks are then processed by renewable fuel manufacturers, producing fuels which behave similarly to conventional propulsion fuel such as petrol and diesel. These renewable fuels are then mixed with petrol, diesel and other fuels by fuel suppliers, who are required to have a set proportion of renewable fuels in their fuel stock. These mixed fuels are then sold at pumps at petrol stations and on the market. Renewable fuels deliver GHG savings as they are sourced from feedstocks which extract carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. Some renewable fuels have a significantly different production process, in particular Renewable Fuels of Non-Biological Origin (RFNBOs).

Figure 2: Timetable of legislative changes to the RTFO

15 April 2008 - Renewable Transport Fuel Obligation (RTFO) commenced aiming to reduced greenhouse gas emissions from transport fuel by encouraging the supply of renewable fuels.

15 December 2011 - EU RED implemented with new mandatory sustainability criteria and double counting of certificates for wastes.

15 April 2013 - fuel suppliers of non road mobile machinery fuel are included.

15 April 2015 - various changes including:

• increasing the reward for certain renewable gas transport fuels
• aligning treatment of biodiesel classes hydrotreated vegetable oil and fatty-acid-methyl-ester (FAME)

15 April 2018 - Indirect Land Use Change Directive amended the RED to include:

• updated GHG savings thresholds
• ILUC must be reported for all crops
• waste and residues definition is introduced

1 January 2019 - A crop cap and development fuel target introduced.

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