SUSTAINABLE fuels could be used in all cars which typically run on petrol or diesel. There’s no need for any alterations to either vehicles or the infrastructure surrounding refuelling.

We’re limited to the amount of bioethanol we can use in fuels, which is what is in E10 petrol, before there is a compatibility issue. But we could use other biowaste to produce other bio-components, with no such issues and with some support to scale up operations.

Due to current government policy, there has been no call to produce sustainable fuel in the huge volumes needed – but it could be done, and studies have been undertaken to prove it.

Here we have a solution that could be making a difference to greenhouse gas emissions almost immediately – given we’re in a climate emergency, why would we not make those easier changes as we transition into fully electric vehicles?

It doesn’t help when data is misrepresented or ‘cherry picked’ and then used to base government policy on.

It’s time we stop looking at solutions as being either perfect or not worth exploring.

While we’re gearing up the electric infrastructure, we’re still emitting millions of tonnes of CO2 from our existing cars every year.

Sustainable fuel may not be the ideal solution, but realistically nothing out there currently is, and it is the only option for tackling the existing fleet.

It makes sense to employ a suite of effective solutions, to tackle these issues as soon as possible. A single solution policy suppresses innovation that might find better or complementary ones.

Andrew Willson,

Via email