UK expands waste feedstock list for road, aviation biofuel mandates

The UK expanded its list of acceptable waste feedstocks for use under its Renewable Transport Fuel Obligation and Sustainable Aviation Fuel Mandate, adding several new categories of waste and residues that qualify for renewable fuel credits and, in some cases, double-counting incentives.

The Department for Transport published the updated list Nov. 11. Under the RTFO and SAF Mandate, suppliers blending biofuels into UK road and aviation fuel pools can claim Renewable Transport Fuel Certificates based on the type of feedstock used.

Fuels derived from waste or residue materials can receive double the number of RTFCs per liter or kilogram compared with those made from crop-based or virgin oil feedstocks.

Expanded waste, residue categories

Among the newly added or updated materials are wastewaters from papermaking, contaminated crude methanol, residues from beverage ethanol production, as well as papermaking wastewaters.

The new entries join a broad list of double-counting waste materials already eligible for renewable fuel generation, such as used cooking oil, palm oil mill effluent, brown grease, municipal grass cuttings and organic municipal solid waste.

Reinforcing circular economy goals

RTFO and SAF Mandate lists form part of the UK's circular economy approach to decarbonizing transport fuels.

Crop-derived fuels with high indirect land-use change risk are excluded or restricted from double-counting and SAF eligibility, according to the DfT.

The European undenatured physical ethanol price dropped Nov. 11 amid increased selling interest.

Platts, part of S&P Global Energy, assessed T2 ethanol at Eur749.75/cu m on Nov. 11, down Eur35 from Nov. 10.