Bioethanol consumption in the UK decreased to 187 million litres in the second quarter of 2019 from 193 million litres a year earlier, statistics by the government show.

The share of ethanol in motor spirit was 4.3%, down from 4.5% in April-June 2018. The share of biodiesel in diesel consumption remained unchanged at 3.5%.

According to Gaynor Hartnell, Head of Renewable Transport Fuels at the Renewable Energy Association (REA), the UK’s Renewable Transport Fuel Obligation is too unambitious. “We could double the consumption of renewable ethanol overnight, with a switch to E10 petrol which is long overdue. There’s potential for higher blends of biodiesel too and enough sustainable feedstocks to produce it,” Hartnell said soon after the statistics were released.

The UK is still considering switching to E10 as the standard petrol grade. From the start of October, the Netherlands did that and joined the list of European countries where E10 is sold, which already includes Belgium, Bulgaria, Finland, France, Germany, Luxembourg and Romania.

Provided by Renewables Now exclusively for Essentica.