SERCO
Recently introduced UK legislation promoting the use of renewable transport fuels regulate that 5.75% of fossil fuels have to be replaced with biofuels by 2010. The aim is to effectively cut CO2 emissions and reduce the dependency on fossil fuels.
Even though many companies are already using higher blends of biodiesel for their fleet, the sustainability of biofuels is hotly contested and there has been much opposition to theRenewable Transport Fuel Obligation (RTFO) from among environmental pressure groups. Sustainability issues with production such as the outsourcing of the biofuel production to countries with less strict environmental legislations, the use of food producing farmland which raises the local food prices or the use of land which has formerly been used as natural carbon sinks, can outweight the benefits of its end use. The calculation of carbon emission savings from biofuels is therefore a complex procedure.
In order to be able to source biodiesel from the most environmentally sustainable option, the international service company SERCO commissioned Carbon Descent to carry out an assessment of the sustainability of biofuel provided by three pre-selected suppliers. The study delivered a detailed evaluation of each supplier and identified the risks associated with supply from each as well as the potential CO2 emissions savings that could be made. The resulting cost benefit analysis enabled SERCO to select the most sustainable option.