UK biodiesel consumption in January was down 46.4% on the month and 45.5% on the year at 30 million liters, its lowest since March 2015, according to National Statistics data published by the UK government Tuesday.
Ethanol consumption in January of 63 million liters was unchanged on the month and up 1.6% compared to January 2016.
These trends broadly follow changes in diesel and petrol consumption patterns.
National Statistics data shows UK diesel consumption at 2,093 million liters in January, down 18.5% on the month and 4.6% on the year.
This brought the biodiesel incorporation rate to 1.41%, down from 2.13% in December 2016 and 2.44% in January 2016.
In addition to declining diesel consumption, the increase in double-counted material, such as biodiesel made from used cooking oil, has also reduced biodiesel sales in terms of volume.
UK petrol consumption showed less variation, totaling 1,288 million liters in January, down 5.7% on the month and 1% on the year.
This brought the blending rate up to 4.66%, from 4.41% in December 2016, but slightly down from 4.69% in January 2016.
The UK has an overall biofuels mandate of 4.75% on a volume basis, unchanged since 2013.
(This version of the story corrects the biofuels mandate in last paragraph to 4.75%.)
