E10 should be top priority, according to APPG report

E10 should be a top priority for the government and mandated in the UK by 2020 at the latest, according to an interim report from the All Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) for British Bioethanol. E10 is a blend of fuel containing 10% bioethanol, which is already sold in a number of developed countries such as Belgium, Finland, France, Germany and the US.

The report comes ahead of an anticipated announcement later this year by the UK Department for Transport on E10, that will address auto-industry and EU concerns about the continued use of first-generation biofuels.

Commenting on publication of the interim report, Chair of the APPG Nic Dakin MP said: ‘Our Inquiry has heard there are in fact increasing numbers of petrol cars on UK roads, and these cars are getting bigger and increasingly less fuel efficient on average. With mass adoption of pure electric cars decades away and the decreasing popularity of diesel, increasing volumes of petrol are being sold.’

‘With an urgent need to address the causes of climate change, improve air quality and support job creation in emerging green industries, practical measures which make petrol cars cleaner and greener must be a top priority for the government who must now work to mandate the introduction of E10 in the UK by 2020 at the latest.’

The interim report contains nine interim findings, including:

1. The UK economy will likely soon lose its bioethanol industry – worth £1bn.
2. Introducing E10 would save the equivalent emissions of taking up to 700,000 cars off the road.
3. Petrol fuel sales volumes in the UK are increasing due to the diminishing popularity of diesel cars as well as a trend for bigger, less fuel efficient petrol cars like SUVs.
4. E10 could assist in addressing the UK’s serious air quality problems in short term.
5. If the British bioethanol industry is lost, the UK is unlikely to attract further international investment – including for the next generation of biofuels.
6. If the British bioethanol industry is lost, the UK will likely become dependent on increasingly scarce and less sustainable biofuel from abroad including used cooking oil (UCO) from China.
7. If the British bioethanol industry is lost, British farmers will need to purchase an increasing volume of animal feed from less sustainable sources.
8. Without E10 it is more likely that the UK will miss its fuels quality directive target and the ‘buy out’ cost avoidance even with E10 is estimated at £100mn – perhaps over double without E10 – and these costs are likely to be passed on to motorists in fuel prices at the forecourt.
9. Achieving the same greenhouse gas (GHG) emission reduction (ie 700,000 cars off the road) that E10 would bring through electric vehicles would have a very significant cost, including a one-off grant charge of £2.45bn to the government and recurring annual cost of £350mn to replace the lost fuel duty revenue. This would be in additional to the investment required to ensure the grid could supply sufficient green electricity and other infrastructure investments including charging points.