Renewable Transport Fuel Obligations (Amendment) Order 2011

My Lords, I thank the noble Earl very much for his, dare I say, easy-to-understand introduction of this order. This subject is becoming more and more complicated, and when the original band of four—the late Lord Carter, the noble Lord, Lord Ezra, the noble Lord, Lord MacGregor, and myself—persuaded the Government to accept the original RTFO, little did we think that the waters would become so muddied, and the UK biodiesel industry would be in such limbo. This is such a complex subject, covering three different government departments and, of course, not to be forgotten, the Treasury. The noble Lord, Lord Teverson, made the point about used cooking oil, so I shall not repeat that by saying what I intended to say. But it must not be forgotten that investment in manufacturing for UK biofuels has been well over £500 million in the past five years. I declare an interest as a grower of industrial oilseed rape, albeit that my wife is a fossil-fuel explorator. Investors are ready and waiting to invest a further £200 million at least in the next year, and more thereafter, if they can get clarity on the pathway to reach the renewable energy directive target of 10 per cent by 2020. This is private sector money, and the industry does not, and will not, rely on government subsidies. It must not be forgotten that UK biofuels are among the most sustainable in the world and provide a vast array of jobs for United Kingdom citizens, most especially in the deprived area of the north-east of England. The lack of clarity in policy—in particular, a dead stop in the UK’s renewable transport targets at 5 per cent by April 2014—is sending a negative signal to investors and I strongly believe that we must get a commitment beyond 2014. We know that we can supply up to 80 per cent of the 10 per cent target and it is incredibly important that these are all from home-made biofuels that are sustainable. I hope the noble Earl will take this on board. If we turn investors away, we will condemn the UK road transport sector to be the greatest carbon emitter in the country for the next 20 years. Is this really what we want? I urge the Government most strongly to confirm the 10 per cent target and the pathway to reach it before investors disappear completely and the RTFO is in utter shreds.