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5th July 2007

A non-profit co-operative environmental group called Blooming Futures has trumpeted the news that following a recent HMRC review users of less than 2,500 litres a year of Pure Plant Oil (PPO) fuel no longer need to register with Customs and Excise and pay road fuel duty, as of the 30th of June. In part due to the new concession, Elsbett Technologies - which claims a 45% share of the German PPO fuel market - is set to establish Elsbett UK, planning a series of conversion dealerships, offering engine conversions, advice , warranties and consultancy advice to diesel fuel users.

Blooming Futures says using 2,500 litres of PPO a year equates to roughly 25,000 miles of driving in a family car – leading to an annual saving on fuel of over £1,100 at current prices. Engine conversion and maintenance costs will vary, and are not quoted.

Previously, users of PPO, derived mostly from used catering oil, were required to declare their fuel use to Customs and Excise, and pay duty accordingly. The decision from HMRC is based on the cost effectiveness of evaluating every small user, and means it is now financially much more viable for domestic vehicle users to convert vehicles to PPO.

PPO as defined by Blooming Futures is pure rapeseed oil, filtered to meet the DIN 51605 standard. Unlike other biofuels PPO production does not require any heavy chemical processing and is made in a low-volume, localised, very low energy fashion, thus boasting a far smaller energy and carbon footprint than other biofuels.

In Germany the PPO infrastructure is well developed. Bloomingfutures says the establishment of a comparable UK PPO production/distribution model will enable farmers to establish profitable on-farm rapeseed presses, thus cutting out the distribution costs associated with larger scale biofuel production.

In April 2008 the Renewable Transport Fuels Obligation (RTFO) certificate scheme will offer a price reduction for heavier users of biofuel in addition to the 20p per litre tax break that PPO already gets, which should equate to an additional 15p per litre saving, or a total 35p per litre tax break for PPO for heavy fuel users. With the price of PPO traditionally close to Derv, this tax advantage will ensure that PPO will be considerably cheaper than Derv diesel for the foreseeable future. These tax benefits will be in place for at least three years.

Blooming Futures describes itself as a leading light in Pure Plant Oil (PPO) technologies.

(bloomingfutures.com, www.elsbett.com/gb/)

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