DfT Science Advisory Council's Position Paper Unveils Key Challenges and Solutions for Low Carbon Transport Fuels
The Department for Transport (DfT) Science Advisory Council (SAC) published a position paper on ‘The Low carbon transport fuels: DfT Science Advisory Council position paper’, which identifies major challenges and uncertainties that need to be resolved to accelerate cost-effective decarbonisation of transport, whilst optimising other possible benefits.
The paper identifies the following major challenges and uncertainties:
- The need to develop and deploy low carbon fuels at scale and at a cost that is competitive with fossil fuels.
- The need to ensure that low carbon fuels are compatible with existing vehicles and infrastructure.
- The need to address the environmental and social impacts of low carbon fuel production.
- The need to ensure that low carbon fuels are available in sufficient quantities to meet demand.
- The paper concludes that the challenges and uncertainties identified are significant, but that they can be overcome with the right policy and investment.
The paper makes a number of recommendations, including:
- The government should develop a clear and ambitious strategy for the decarbonisation of transport.
- The government should invest in research and development to accelerate the development and deployment of low carbon fuels.
- A sectoral prioritisation is needed to develop a hierarchy of different uses of recyclable carbon, considering the full range of manufacturing end uses and including as a feedstock for fuels in the transport sector.
- The government should work with industry to ensure that low carbon fuels are compatible with existing vehicles and infrastructure.
- Strategies for decarbonising transport will be dependent on how decarbonisation of the wider UK energy system develops, and integration of DfT fuel policies with those of other government departments is crucial.
- The government should develop a framework to assess the environmental and social impacts of low carbon fuel production.
- Opportunities for the repurposing of existing fuel infrastructure should be further explored, optimising efficiency and flexibility of distribution while adapting to changing risks around security.
- The government should work with international partners to ensure that there is a global market for low carbon fuels.
The government makes it clear that the decarbonisation of transport is essential to meet the UK's climate change targets. Low carbon fuels have the potential to play a significant role in decarbonising transport, but the challenges and uncertainties identified need to be addressed in order to make low carbon fuels a viable option.
