HMRC: Excise Notice 179e Defines Biofuel Duty Rates, Producer Responsibilities

We use some essential cookies to make this website work. We’d like to set additional cookies to understand how you use GOV.UK, remember your settings and improve government services. We also use cookies set by other sites to help us deliver content from their services. You have accepted additional cookies. You can change your cookie settings at any time. You have rejected additional cookies. You can change your cookie settings at any time. Find out about the legal definitions of biofuel products and fuel substitutes, excise duty rates and the roles and responsibilities of producers from 1 April 2022. Get emails about this page Print this page You can check the legal definitions of biofuel products, excise duty rates and the roles and responsibilities of producers before 1 April 2022 . This notice has been updated as a result of changes to the legislation on the use and control of rebated fuels. In particular, heating became a chargeable use for biodiesel and fuel substitutes from 1 April 2022. It gives details of the various biofuels and their excise duty rates. It also explains the roles and responsibilities of producers, and in some cases, users, of these products. You should read this notice if you: Primary legislation: Secondary legislation: Changes to excise duty rates are normally contained in the annual Finance Act and are published in tax information and impact notes. The VAT law is the Value Added Tax Act 1994 and orders and regulations made under that act. This notice explains how we interpret the law and is not a substitute for the law. However, parts of this notice have the force of law. These are identified at the relevant places in the notice. Where appropriate we will quote the law and we will use the titles and abbreviations used in the primary and secondary legislation bulleted lists. You must comply with all the legal provisions relating to health and safety such as the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974. These provisions may include the need to display warning notices, and to issue health and safety instructions, to both staff and visitors. If you issue special equipment or protective clothing to your staff when they’re undertaking activities such as handling, inspecting or sampling biodiesel then you must provide similar clothing and equipment to us when we undertake the same activities. The Health and Safety Executive has published advice on the hazards of producing biodiesel at home. The main points are as follows. Biodiesel is produced commercially and can be bought from some petrol stations. However there are ‘recipes’ available on the internet for the domestic production of biodiesel. These usually involve mixing methanol with sodium hydroxide (also known as caustic soda or lye), and pouring the resulting mixture into vegetable oil. Such home production raises serious health and safety concerns, as it involves hazardous chemicals and the risk of fire and explosion. Making biodiesel is a potentially hazardous process that should only be carried out in controlled conditions by people with the proper training and experience. At the very least a poorly made product could seriously damage a vehicle engine. Find more information on domestic production of biodiesel from the Health and Safety Executive website . Support is available for UK biofuels through the Renewable Transport Fuel Obligation. Fossil fuel suppliers have an obligation to supply a certain percentage of their fuel as biofuel. They demonstrate this by either redeeming Renewable Transport Fuel Certificates or paying a buy-out price. You can find the buy-out price in the Renewable Transport Fuel Obligation . Suppliers of biofuels in the UK can apply to the Department for Transport to receive one Renewable Transport Fuel Certificate for every litre of liquid biofuel or kilogram of biogas they supply. These certificates can be: The Department for Transport also requires reports on the carbon and sustainability of biofuel supplied. More information