To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how much biofuel was produced in the UK in the last 12 months; and what estimate she has made of the effect on the UK's carbon dioxide emissions of use of biofuels in substitution for fossil fuels in that period. (191207)

A total of around 500 million litres of road transport biofuel was sold in the UK during 2007. Further details are available via the HM Revenue and Customs website at

http://www.uktradeinfo.com/index.cfm?task=bulloil

These figures do not, however, distinguish between imported fuels and domestically produced fuels, and the Government are unable to provide a detailed breakdown of this. Nor is it possible to provide a precise estimate of the reduction in carbon dioxide emissions associated with these biofuels. This is because information on the feedstocks from which the fuels were produced, and on their country of origin, is not currently collected.

This is one of the reasons why the Government are introducing the renewable transport fuel obligation (RTFO) in April. Under the RTFO, transport fuel suppliers who wish to earn renewable transport fuel certificates in respect of their biofuels will have to report to the Renewable Fuels Agency (RFA) on matters such as the country of origin, the wider sustainability and the carbon intensity of those fuels. The Renewable Fuels Agency will be required to report regularly on these matters, and this will allow the Government to monitor very closely the carbon dioxide savings associated with the policy, as well as its wider environmental impacts.

Further detail on the reporting requirements is available via the RFA's website at

http://www.dft.gov.uk/rfa