Written question asked by Dari Taylor (Labour) on Thursday, 11 December 2008, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Monday, 15 December 2008. It was answered by Jim Fitzpatrick (Labour) on Thursday, 18 December 2008 on behalf of the Department for Transport.

Renewable Energy: Transport

Question: (2) if he will provide financial compensation for biofuel producers materially affected by the drafting error in the 2007 Order.

Answer: Due to a discrepancy identified in the RTFO Order 2007 (SI 3072) an amount of fossil fuel cannot be considered when calculating how much renewable fuel a supplier is obligated to supply. However, the impact of this problem on the volumes of biofuel used and the extent of any shortfall in the UK will not be known until after the end of this obligation year.The Government are currently consulting on the proposed solution to rectify the discrepancy issue for the next obligation year, as part of a consultation on slowing down the rate of increase of obligation levels. The consultation closed on 17 December and we shall take into account responses about the possible effects of the discrepancy on biofuel producers.

Secondary information