Authors

Biofuel policy has become highly contentious in Europe, originally driven by the Biofuels Directive (2003/30/EC), which requires that “biofuels or other renewable fuels ” constitute 5.75 % of the energy content of petrol and diesel sold for transport in member states by 2010, and now superseded by the Renewable Energy Directive. Here we discuss governance aspects of the environmental and social sustainability components of the expression of these directives in UK law via the 2008 UK Renewable Transport Fuel Obligation (RTFO). We observe that commercial and energy security priorities have dominated the design of carbon and sustainability performance management under the RTFO. As an environmental management tool, the RTFO has been exceptionally weak, being a reporting standard rather than a performance or design standard. While it will be strengthened by the Renewable Energy Directive (RED), significant concerns remain in relation to the sourcing of biomass for energy. RTFO certification is of a meta-type, being built upon existing certification and labelling schemes (e.g. the Roundtable on Responsible Soy, Forest 2 Stewardship Council, Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil and others), all of which are more or les