New rules requiring drivers to fill their tanks with greener fuels have come into force today.

The initiative is known as the Renewable Transport Fuel Obligation (RTFO) and requires 2.5% of all road fuels sold to come from biofuels, rising to 5% by 2010.

The idea behind the initiative is to reduce the climate change emissions from transport - which produces more than a quarter of overall greenhouse gases in the UK - through the use of renewables in place of fossil fuels.

The UK has gone further than any other country to give fuel suppliers a real incentive to produce sustainable biofuels that do not harm the environment. Suppliers are required to produce sustainability reports including information on where their biofuel crops come from and the level of carbon savings they will achieve.

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Transport Minister Jim Fitzpatrick said: "Making it easier for motorists to use greener fuel is an important step towards reducing carbon emissions from transport. It should help save millions of tonnes of carbon dioxide in the coming years.

"But we must do all we can to ensure biofuels are produced sustainably. We know people are concerned about the environmental risks associated with expanding biofuel production and we take those concerns very seriously.

"That is why we want to introduce mandatory standards as soon as possible to guarantee that biofuels don't cause deforestation or food shortages and we are leading international work to do this. In the meantime, we require suppliers to produce sustainability reports, providing an immediate incentive for them to source biofuels responsibly."

(CD/JM)