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The United Kingdom has reported a significant increase in renewable fuel volumes across both road transport and aviation in 2026, according to provisional statistics released by the Department for Transport (DfT) on 17 September.
Under the Renewable Transport Fuel Obligation (RTFO), fuel suppliers reported approximately 1.99 billion litres equivalent of renewable transport fuels through mid-July 2026, compared with around 1.73 billion litres equivalent across the equivalent 2025 reporting periods, a year-on-year increase of roughly 15%.
In a separate dataset covering the SAF Mandate, suppliers reported 291.7 million litres of sustainable aviation fuel for 2026, based on information available to 1 September. This compares with approximately 130.1 million litres across the equivalent 2025 reporting periods, representing a 124% increase.
The two datasets are published separately because, since the UK SAF Mandate came into force on 1 January 2025, sustainable aviation fuel has been excluded from RTFO statistics. The RTFO now covers renewable fuels supplied for road transport and non-road mobile machinery, while aviation fuel is tracked through the dedicated SAF Mandate statistics.
Within the RTFO figures, biodiesel methyl ester (ME) recorded one of the strongest increases among the main renewable fuel categories. Supply reached approximately 545.2 million litres equivalent over the comparable 2026 reporting periods, up from 336.2 million litres in 2025, an increase of around 62%.
Bioethanol remained the largest individual renewable fuel category, reaching approximately 901.6 million litres equivalent, compared with 839.1 million litres in the equivalent 2025 periods, a rise of around 7%.
Other renewable fuels showed mixed trends. Compressed biomethane increased by approximately 3% to 71.4 million litres equivalent, while liquefied biomethane declined by around 4% to 53.4 million litres equivalent.
Supply of hydrotreated vegetable oil (HVO) also fell, dropping from around 340.4 million litres equivalent in the comparable 2025 periods to 272.4 million litres in 2026, a decline of approximately 20%.
The DfT figures form part of the first provisional RTFO release for 2026 and are based on data available as of 3 September 2026. The department noted that the dataset remains incomplete and will be revised as additional fuel volumes and sustainability information are reported.
A notable jump also came from fuels classified under the RTFO as 'development fuels', designed to support emerging renewable fuel pathways. Reported supply reached approximately 117.5 million litres equivalent across the comparable 2026 periods, up from around 44.7 million litres in 2025, an increase of more than 160%.
Development diesel accounted for much of this rise, climbing from approximately 20 million litres equivalent to more than 74 million litres.
The RTFO uses Renewable Transport Fuel Certificates (RTFCs) to demonstrate compliance with renewable fuel obligations. The statistics also track the sustainability and carbon characteristics of certified renewable fuels, although certification data can lag behind reported supply volumes.
In aviation, the 291.7 million litres of SAF reported in 2026 represented 3.92% of total aviation fuel reported in the available dataset. The figure is already close to the approximately 332.8 million litres reported across the whole of 2025 in the latest provisional dataset for that year. However, the two totals cover different reporting periods, so they should not be treated as a direct full-year comparison.
A like-for-like comparison of the corresponding reporting periods shows SAF supply rising from approximately 130.1 million litres in 2025 to 291.7 million litres in 2026, an increase of around 124%.
The SAF figures represent the first provisional statistics for the 2026 obligation year and are based on information available as of 1 September 2026. As with the RTFO dataset, they remain incomplete and will be updated as further information is submitted and verified.
The latest figures reflect the UK's current separation of renewable fuel policy between surface transport and aviation. The RTFO covers renewable fuels used in road vehicles and non-road mobile machinery and provides certificates to qualifying fuels that meet the applicable sustainability criteria. SAF, meanwhile, has been accounted for separately since 2025 through the SAF Mandate, the government's principal policy mechanism for creating demand for sustainable aviation fuel in the UK.
The Department for Transport published the first provisional 2026 releases for both schemes on 17 September, providing the first official snapshot of renewable road fuel and SAF supply during the current obligation year. The complete and finalised datasets for 2026 are scheduled for publication in November 2027.
Source: Review Energy