On January 10, 2020, the National Farmers’ Union of Scotland (NFUS) announced its pursuit for high level solutions to machinery problems linked to biofuel content. According to NFUS, many Scottish and UK farmers are experiencing issues because of the percentage of biofuel content in fuel for farming machinery. In December 2019, NFUS submitted a letter to Grant Shapps, Member of Parliament (MP) and Secretary of State for Transport, requesting long-term solutions for this problem. NFSU’s key requests include:
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Broker a fuel replacement scheme to enable farmers with problematic fuel to receive a fuel uplift and refill of alternative fuel suitable for their needs;
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Conduct a review of the specification and testing protocols ensuring that fuel produced in the UK is fit for farmers’ purposes and is reliable;
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Ensure that the review of specifications and testing protocols occur in a timely manner to prevent a future crisis; and
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Lead further research into the behavior of recycled oil and animal fats within diesel to determine if specific components need to be excluded from it.
Also in December 2019, NFUS representatives attended a meeting with industry experts, which resulted in the creation of a task force to begin working on this issue immediately. NFUS Policy Adviser Zoe Meldrum stated, “Fuel problems remain a top priority for our members and time and resource continues to be dedicated towards finding practical solutions and apply lessons from this event to ensure fuel issues such as this cannot impact agriculture again.”
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