The UK Government's response to the European Directive 2003/30/EC is the Renewable Transport Fuel Obligation which will come into force on 15 April 2008. This places an obligation on road fuel suppliers to ensure that a target percentage of their total road fuel sales are biofuels. The target percentage starts at 2.5% by volume in 2008/09 rising to 5% by volume in 2010/11.

Standard petrol containing ethanol, or diesel containing fatty acid methylesters (FAME) are commonly referred to as E5 and B5 (for petrol and diesel blends respectively), but both can continue to be retailed as EN 228 petrol and EN 590 diesel respectively.

Although E5 and B5 remain within the requirements of EN 228 and EN 590 respectively, there are certain features of these fuels that differ from those that do not contain the biocomponent. The guide below gives further details and guidance for dealing with E5 & B5 Fuels.

Guidance note for filling station operators on the introduction of E5 petrol and B5 diesel

NOTE: The guide requres Adobe Acrobat Reader, the latest version of which can be downloaded Here at no cost.