The Renewable Fuels Assurance Scheme (RFAS) is an initiative designed and managed by Zemo Partnership. The Scheme aims to verify claims made by companies supplying renewable fuels to heavy duty vehicle and equipment operators regarding their product’s GHG emission savings and provenance of raw material feedstocks.
The RFAS works alongside the Government’s Renewable Transport Fuel Obligation (RTFO), providing a mechanism for guaranteeing that fleet operators are purchasing bulk supplies of sustainable low carbon fuels. The Scheme enables fleet operators to receive renewable fuel supply chain specific GHG emission data, thereby ensuring accurate and representative information for company carbon reporting. Furthermore, credible GHG emission savings figures will help inform decision making processes regarding vehicle fleet decarbonisation options by demonstrating the merits of sustainable low carbon fuels.
Transport sectors covered by the scheme are road vehicle and heavy duty off-highway, notably non-road mobile machinery (NRMM) used on construction sites. Example renewable fuel types that can be approved include biodiesel, hydrotreated vegetable oil, biomethane, renewable hydrogen, various development fuels and blends of renewable fuels. The RFAS encompasses the complete renewable fuel supply chain from feedstock cultivation or waste raw material collection, production and distribution of the final product to the customer.
Companies approved under the Renewable Fuels Assurance Scheme
* Green Biofuels Ltd RFAS approval suspended on 22 November 2023.
For further information about the RFAS please email rfas@zemo.org.uk or contact Gloria Esposito, Head of Sustainability.
What are the scheme’s environmental performance criteria?
Renewable fuel supply chains are required to meeting the following criteria:
Greenhouse gas emission savings thresholds
- More than 65% GHG savings for the renewable fraction of biofuels
- More than 65% GHG savings for renewable fuels of non-biological origin (such as renewable hydrogen)
- More than 10% GHG savings for the total renewable fuel blend based
Greenhouse gas emissions are calculated using a life-cycle methodology and measured against a fossil fuel comparator
Feedstock Sustainability
- Protection of land and biodiversity
- Use of waste as a resource, with a chain of custody to show provenance of the biomass wastes
- Use of renewable energy and resources for producing renewable fuels of non-biological origin such as hydrogen.
Supply Chain Traceability
- The renewable fuel supply chain shall be traceable from feedstock origin to customer refuelling depot in terms of greenhouse gas emission and sustainability performance.
How to become an approved Renewable Fuel Supplier?
Companies are required to apply to Zemo Partnership to become approved under the RFAS and recognised as Renewable Fuel Suppliers. This entails completing an application form and participating in an independent audit to demonstrate compliance with the scheme performance criteria. Once approved Renewable Fuel Suppliers are requested to undergo continuous compliance monitoring including an annual audit. Technical guidance and an application form are available for companies wishing to become approved under the RFAS.
The RFAS has an application and annual participation fee, please contact Zemo Partnership for 2023 fees.
Renewable Fuel Declarations
Once Renewable Fuel Suppliers are approved by Zemo Partnership, they are requested to issue their customers with Renewable Fuel Declarations for batches of renewable fuels that have been sold. The Declaration identifies the types and volumes of renewable fuel purchased, the GHG emission intensity and savings as well as details of the types of raw material feedstocks and certification under the voluntary sustainability scheme. The declaration includes a colour-coded banding system scaled on GHG emission savings, with the top banding (A+) associated with ‘negative’ GHG emissions. This will help fleet operators easily recognise the GHG emission performance of their renewable fuel and strive for greater savings.
The Renewable Fuel Declarations are non-transferable. In the event of an RFAS approved renewable fuel supplier selling renewable fuel to a fuel distributor or trader, the distributor/trader will need to become approved in their own right, if they wish to benefit from the scheme and issue declarations to their customers.