Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment she made of the potential impact of the UK's use of grain as biofuel on global food security.

The UK represents a very small proportion, roughly 0.5%, of global crop-based biofuel consumption and our use of crop-based feed stocks therefore has a relatively small impact on global food prices and security. The Renewable Transport Fuel Obligation, the main mechanism incentivising renewable transport fuels in the UK, includes a cap on the proportion of crop derived biofuel that can be supplied each year and provides a double reward for fuels produced from wastes and residues. Because of this, 76% of renewable fuel supplied in the UK was derived from wastes in 2021 – one of the highest proportions in Europe.

The cap on crop derived fuels reduces each year as part of a continual transition to waste-based fuels. This ambition is supported by the forthcoming sustainable aviation fuel mandate, which will not allow the use of crop-based biofuels.