Carbon reporting within the Renewable Transport Fuel Obligation – Methodology

Apr 2007

This document represents advice to the Department for Transport on how carbon reporting could operate under the Renewable Transport Fuel Obligation. It defines a recommended methodology for calculating carbon intensity under the RTFO. This Methodology forms the foundation of the broader process of Carbon Reporting which it is expected “Obligated Companies”1 will carry out every month in order to be awarded Renewable Transport Fuel Certificates (RTFCs) for the fuels they supply into the UK market.
This document defines recommendations to the government regarding the methodology for calculating the carbon intensity of a biofuel, firstly, by outlining the approach adopted on a number of methodological issues (Section 2). This requires specification of the boundaries of the carbon intensity calculation, the use of reference systems, the way co-products are treated and the principles for setting default values for the data needed to calculate the carbon intensity of biofuels. This methodological information has been included to enable stakeholders to understand the key principles and assumptions which underlie the methodology, and to enable the RTFO Administrator to add any new fuel chains to the methodology on a consistent basis.
Secondly, the proposed methodology, including all appropriate default values, is set out in Section 3 for a number of fuel chains. The methodology currently covers each of the following fuel chains:
• Ethanol from: wheat, corn, sugar beet and sugar cane
• Ethyl tertiary butyl ether (ETBE) from: the above sources of ethanol.
• Biodiesel from: oilseed rape, soy, palm, used cooking oil and tallow.
• Biomethane from: MSW and manure.

By: A. Bauen, P. Watson and J. Howes (E4tech)

 
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