British agriculture represents around 8% of all UK transport GHG emissions, derived from on-road and off-road farm transport and other fossil fuel driven machinery. Modern agriculture is heavily reliant on mechanisation – and increasingly on automated transport systems. The study examines the industry’s traditional reliance on diesel mainly in the form of subsidised ‘red’ diesel – as the dominant fuel source, accounting for nearly 15% of all UK diesel sales.
The UK farming industry retained the benefits of the red diesel subsidy in the March 2020 budget – but clearly this issue may re-emerge as the national economy seeks to recover from the consequences of the Covid pandemic, and with the impact of increasing pressure to remove fossil-based transport fuels.
A number of industry-led initiatives are underway to investigate viable alternatives to this widespread use of diesel – and this report highlights some of those opportunities. Many of these were raised in the ‘Refuelling the Countryside’ report published by the RASE in 2014, which reviewed a number of emerging technical and operational options for farmers and other land-based businesses. The 2014 study was based upon three scenarios that demonstrated the prospects for green electricity, green hydrogen and bio-methane in terms of on-farm generation, storage and use of alternative and sustainable fuels.
Clearly, the transition to non-fossil transport fuels on farms and the associated availability of low emission tractors and other vehicles will not be straightforward and will take time as well as investment. A series of workshops led by the NFU in 2019 highlighted the challenges posed in terms of moving to alternative fuels and, in particular, to battery powered options. This formed the basis of a consultation response to the UK Government’s proposal to bring forward the end of the sale of new petrol, diesel and hybrid vehicles from 2040 to 2030.
The NFU concluded that, ‘We do not think it is currently possible to set a date for phasing out new sales of diesel tractors and other non-road agricultural machinery and [the NFU] calls upon government to encourage and accelerate the demonstration and introduction of ultra-low emission electric and hybrid tractors. In the meantime, we strongly support a continued role for high biofuel blends like E10 ethanol and B20 biodiesel.’