Logistics UK responds as government publishes renewable fuel review

September 16, 2025

2 min read

The government has published a summary of responses to its statutory review and provided an update on the scheme.

First introduced in 2008, the RTFO (Renewable Transport Fuel Obligation) is the government’s main lever to encourage the use of low carbon fuel in surface transport, working by placing an annual obligation on fuel suppliers which requires a certain percentage of their fuel to be sustainable low carbon fuel (LCF) rather than fossil fuel.

With LCFs (such as renewable diesel, biomethane and biodiesel) offering well-to-wheel GHG emission savings from 76 to 125%, they represent a prime opportunity to reduce emissions and help the UK meet its carbon budgets.

Logistics UK’s Policy Manager Katie Adams said: “Logistics UK supports the RTFO to help incentivise the uptake of LCFs in the transition to decarbonise, alongside the shift to electric vehicles.

“With obligation targets currently set to increase until 2032 and then remain at that level into the future, industry is calling for the trajectory to be more ambitious and to continue rising beyond this point to help reduce greenhouse gas emissions so welcomes the commitment to a consultation on the broader RTFO scheme containing proposals for the future target trajectory.

“The logistics sector is committed to decarbonising, and it is widely accepted that battery electric is the primary route to decarbonise HGVs, however, many barriers remain in place around commercial viability, charging infrastructure and operational use cases.

“It is therefore reassuring to hear government pragmatically acknowledge in its response that sections of the heavy duty vehicle market are likely to take longer to transition. As such, it confirms LCFs will continue to be supported under the RTFO.”

Logistics UK has long argued that LCFs have a key role to play in reducing emissions from existing fleets and can complement the shift to zero tailpipe emission technologies, particularly for the heaviest vehicles and specialise use cases, to ensure the sector can take advantage of immediate savings today and will continue to engage on this critical topic.