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By 2010, five per cent of all fuel sold in the UK will be required to be biofuel, as part of the Renewable Transport Fuels Obligation (RTFO). And in order to make sure the target is met, transport secretary Ruth Kelly has created the Renewable Fuels Agency to act as a kind of biofuel police for industry.
"I want the agency to make sure the [RTFO] is run efficiently and effectively, but I also want it to take the lead in making sure the biofuels we use in this country come from sustainable sources, saving the most carbon possible," says Kelly.
Professor Ed Gallagher, the former chief executive of the Environment Agency, will be the chairman of the new watchdog, and will be joined on the board by the director of the Low Carbon Vehicle Partnership, Greg Archer; the director of environmental policy at BP, Paul Jefferiss; and the director of BionerG, Brian White.
It's estimated that reaching five per cent biofuels sales could save up to 3 million tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions every year. However, there is a lot of controversy surrounding biofuels and the possibility that they can create food crop shortages in developing nations.
"Climate change is one of the biggest challenges that we face today and I am convinced that biofuels can have an important role in tackling it. But it is essential that they are truly sustainable," says Gallagher.
It's expected that the RTFO will work on a certificate scheme, so that companies which use more than five per cent biofuel will be able to sell their extra allowance to companies which are failing to do so.
The Renewable Fuels Agency will begin work in April, and will be based in the very epicentre of UK political and business power -- Hastings.
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