Lowering of fuel duty on veg oil

Fantastic isn't it :-)

Mike P

I can see a run on veggie oil in Tescos.

Grimly Curmudgeon wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@4ax.com:

Cue a hike in veg oil prices at a supermarket near you...

Someone in HMRC has caught on to current Government thinking: If it costs too much to enforce a law, simply make it legal! Simple! You balance that by punishing the easy-to-catch offenders much more severely.

Next they will be proposing to let people carrying 5kg or less of controlled substances into the country without question. Saves on staffing and also prison places. Divert the staff into catching holidaymakers for import duty on electrical goods or something.

I use the 20L cans from Makro though some Tescos were selling 15L containers for £5.95

What a load of hassle. I've just filled up with LPG at 34p per Litre...

tox

The only catch I can see, following the links through

the requirement to prove that you're producing "proper" biodiesel.So you can't dilute with paraffin to make it flow better. But that's already the case anyway to get the 20p rate of duty (for those doing things legally).

"If the product does not meet the appropriate definition it will be considered a fuel substitute and will attract a higher rate of duty. See sub-paragraph 3.1.1 for more information.

For example, in order to be Biodiesel, a product must meet all of the following criteria:

• It must be of 'Diesel quality' ? see paragraph 3.3 below; and * It must be a liquid ? not gaseous at a temperature of 15°C and under a pressure of 1013.25 millibars; and * It must be made from biomass or waste cooking oil; * The total ester content must not be less than 96.5% by weight; and * The sulphur content must not exceed 0.005% by weight or be nil."

So the big question is, what do you need to do to keep yourself above the law? Looks like you have to keep records of how much you produce (use) to show that you're not exceeding 2500l per annum. But do you also need to have the stuff tested or made available for testing?

Well it also said that provided you are in the under 2500 litre bracket, they would not need to visit your premises. Presumably this could mean no testing.

But how far do you travel on one litre of LPG? I normally get over 10 miles to a litre of DERV or veggie.

I own a small Daihatsu 1.3 Litre van, the LPG tank holds approx 28.5 Litres and this gets me between 180 and 200 miles, depending on how I drive it. Most of the time, I'm on the motorway, so it's nearer 180 miles which equates to just over 6.5 miles per litre. However, the thought of queuing up at Tesco to buy veggie oil and then messing about with containers and finishing up with about 500 of them in the garage...

No thanks.

Cheers tox

However I understand that the 2500 litre limit is in addition to the requirements Willy provided, such as being 'proper' biodiesel - ie. 'diesel quality', made from biomass or *waste* cooking oil, < 96.5% ester content and not exceeding 0.005% sulphur content. If any of those aren't true, then the 2500 litre limit doesn't apply.

It sounds like buying cooking oil from the supermarket would void those conditions (it's not waste cooking oil) and therefore even if you used <

2500 litres per year, you may not be eligible for the nil rate tax nor the removal of the requirement for visits.

The question is though, how can you prove (for example) the sulphur content of the fuel to qualify?

D

But you don't need to go through the aggro of having to have a car converted and certified etc.

Yes I tried that but it kept leaking out so Ill stick with the veg oil

SVO is considered to be a 'Fuel Subsitute' and HMCE are happy for it to be included in the 2500L per year. I called them (again) this morning and I suggest other people do the same. Im going to write them a letter explaining and will carry that with me at all times as I use a 50% SVO in my vehicle.

They also said that receipts for Veg oil are OK to keep as 'records' and it is not necessary to keep receipts for white diesel.

That's quite correct, I didn't.

The conversion was already done, when I purchased it.

Regards tox

The message from Willy Eckerslyke contains these words:

Wonder why you're not allowed to produce it with zero sulphur.

"> > * The sulphur content must not exceed 0.005% by weight or be nil."

Now I look at the wording again, it doesn't make sense does it?

Now that's a useful answer. If, by any chance, you get a reply to your proposed letter, which also confirms this, would you be so good as to post the contents? No doubt they will add something to their website one day.

The message from "Brian" contains these words:

Perhaps it's a drafting error.