Fuel Proof News

From 1 April 2022, changes to UK law mean that many people and businesses who use red diesel (AKA rebated fuel; gas oil; tractor diesel) will need to switch to more costly white diesel, which carries the full Fuel Duty rate.

Most UK vehicles and machinery will no longer be able to use rebated red diesel, especially in the commercial sector. From 1 April it becomes illegal to put red diesel into any tank, vehicle or machine not covered by the new rules.
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The switch to white diesel will increase fuel costs by about 47p per litre for many businesses and organisations across the country. This new ruling could have wide-reaching effects, as businesses pass increased fuel costs on to consumers.

From the 1st April the use and storage of red diesel in vehicles, machinery and fuel tanks will be further restricted to operations such as farming and forestry, in line with new rules set out by the UK government. 

Briefly, red diesel will still be legal for use in agriculture, fish farming, forestry and horticulture; non-commercial heating and power generation; rail transport, marine transport, boating and sailing; circuses and other travelling fairs; and sports clubs including golf courses. For a more detailed list, please see below.

From the 1st April, many businesses across the UK – ranging from construction and plant hire to recycling operations – will have a legal duty to switch to the use of white diesel immediately, or could face heavy fines.

Red diesel itself isn’t being scrapped or price-hiked. It will just be legally prohibited for use by most of those businesses which used it previously, especially in the commercial sector.

​This change to the red diesel rules is part of the Government’s 2050 net-zero decarbonisation plan. It’s aimed to encourage the wider use of white diesel and greener fuels by the commercial sector, especially in mining, quarrying, construction, plant, logistics, leisure and highway maintenance.

The UK government has set out the following on the use of red diesel and rebated biofuels, restricting entitlement “to the following qualifying purposes”:

• “For vehicles and machinery used in agriculture, horticulture, fish farming and forestry. This includes allowing vehicles used for agriculture to be used for cutting verges and hedges, snow clearance and gritting roads

• To propel passenger, freight or maintenance vehicles designed to run on rail tracks

• For heating and electricity generation in non-commercial premises – this includes the heating of homes and buildings such as places of worship, hospitals and town halls; off-grid power generation; and non-propulsion uses on permanently-moored houseboats

• For maintaining community amateur sports clubs as well as golf courses (including activities such as ground maintenance, and the heating and lighting of clubhouses, changing rooms etc.)

• As fuel for all marine craft refuelling and operating in the UK (including fishing and water freight industries), except for propelling private pleasure craft in Northern Ireland

• For powering the machinery (including caravans) of travelling fairs and circuses”.

Even then, there are particular rules on how red diesel can be used in these approved areas. For more info please refer to Government guidance via the link below.

These rules will also extend fuel duty to “biodiesel, bioblends and fuel substitutes used in heating, applying the rebated duty rate to non-commercial heating and the full rate of duty to commercial heating.” (Source: gov.uk)

Until now, the law regarding red diesel usage set out in the Hydrocarbon Oil Duties Act 1979 (HODA) has included references to ‘road vehicles’. But from 1st April 2022, references to ‘road vehicles’ in this legislation will change to the term ‘excepted machines’. These ‘exceptions’ to the new red diesel rules, and the purposes that red diesel is used for, have been strictly redefined in law.

Currently around 15% of all diesel used in the UK is rebated red diesel. After the 1st April this percentage will drop significantly, and anyone caught using red diesel without entitlement could face significant fines, vehicle seizure, or even unlimited fines and imprisonment – since the unentitled use of rebated red diesel is technically considered tax evasion.

​Yes. These changes affect the use of rebated red diesel, HVO (Hydrotreated Vegetable Oil), bioblend, biodiesel and fuel substitutes.

If your operation doesn’t fall into one of the excepted categories detailed above, then you have a legal responsibility to make the switch to white diesel from 1st April 2022. To be compliant with these changes you will need to:
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1. Run down your remaining stock of red diesel fuel.
2. Uplift any red diesel and flush the fuel lines that carried it.
3. Clean and inspect your fuel tanks to avoid contaminating new fuel.

“Contamination” in this respect refers to any presence of red diesel marker dye. The authorities test for this distinctive red dye to catch out anyone using tax-rebated red diesel illegally, and could well inflict heavy fines to enforce the new diesel rules.

• Increased fuel cost.
  White diesel fuel is more expensive than rebated red diesel, meaning an increase in your average fuel expenditure of around 47p per litre at the time of writing. Many business owners are now being forced to be more strategic in their daily use of diesel fuel, with fuel costs for large-scale operations increasing by thousands of pounds as a result of the change.

 

• Increased fuel security.
  White diesel also needs to be kept more secure than red diesel, and especially now as demand for it increases widely. The higher value of white diesel fuel, and now its wider applications across an increasing number of industries, mean that it carries with it the need to be very securely stored – and those fuel pumps closely monitored.

 

• Increased use of fuel management technology.
  The best way to secure white diesel and monitor its usage is with a remote fuel management system, installed at the point of dispensing. This remote system means that fuel cannot be dispensed without the use of a secure key or app licence, and so every drop of your fuel can be accounted for. Combined with a lockable all-steel bunded fuel tank, built to a structurally stronger cylindrical design, your investment in white diesel fuel can be made extremely secure from the start. (Example fuel management system pictured above).

• Consider your fuel storage needs.
  Since white diesel is much more expensive, will you be using the same quantities of white diesel as you would have used in red? Or will the same amount of fuel need to last longer? Now could be the best time to reassess your on-site fuel storage needs – and to invest in a fuel management system that gives you remote access, to measure every drop of white diesel that goes into your business.

 

• Be careful not to let your white diesel contaminate or age out.
  Keep your stored fuel on a strict timer, with regular tank checks and maintenance, and you could also eliminate the cost of any spoiled fuel going to waste. Understandably, since white diesel carries a higher cost it may be tempting to reduce its use, and to keep it around for longer. But as diesel fuel stands unused, and as storage tanks condense with changing seasonal temperatures, diesel bug becomes a risk factor for fuel contamination and can even clog up your engines. Breakdowns are an extra potential cost that you really could do without!

 
Less fuel use, or longer fuel storage times, could also affect how much white diesel you have hanging around when it comes time to swap your summer and winter grades. So it’s well worth reassessing just how quickly you’ll be burning through your costlier store of white diesel fuel over the coming months, and when this summer-grade supply will need to be swapped out for the winter.
 

• Proof your fuel against theft.
  The sad truth is that with the switch to expensive white diesel, many more fuel storage sites around the country could become higher-value targets for fuel theft. As always, the best storage material for your fuel is bunded steel, and a cylinder shape provides your tank with the greatest possible structural strength. Add hidden internal hinges and a shrouded padlock cover, and you layer up even more defences which make your fuel storage tank a far more hardened target against theft.

 
Add an advanced fuel management system on top of that, and suddenly you’ve limited the basic dispensing of your fuel to only those people who own an assigned app licence, or a key fob, able to activate your fuel tank and make it operate. Without a key fob or Bluetooth app licence assigned to them, someone attempting to use your fuel tank can’t take a single drop.
 

• Also watch every drop of white diesel dispensed by your team.

While none of us can do much about the cost of fuel, there is absolutely a way to scrutinise where your new white diesel is going, and how often it’s being dispensed. A fuel management system gives you eyes on your fuel tank(s) remotely, along with all the data you’ll need to tell you who in your team has used your fuel supply, and when – and in precisely what quantity every time.

Click the link below to learn more about the red diesel restrictions from 1st April 2022, as detailed in the Government’s Reform of Red Diesel policy.

The Industry Standard for Transporting Fuel
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Fuel Proof’s range of highway towable diesel bowsers are the most innovative, secure and reliable products of their type on the market. Reliable, user-friendly and built to last, these units are fully U.N. approved for transporting diesel on the highway. The baffled inner tank ensures excellent stability on the move, and the high quality running gear ensures years of trouble free service.

It’s All Over For Old Diesel Bowsers!

There has been an authorisation in place since 2004 to allow the carriage of certain dangerous goods (UN1202, DIESEL FUEL, GAS OIL, HEATING OIL, LIGHT) in ‘bowsers’.

The purpose of this authorisation was to allow industry time to adapt to new requirements and this 15 year transitional period ends on 9 May 2019.
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Essentially, bowsers made prior to 10 May 2004 were authorised to be regarded as an intermediate bulk container (IBC) so long as certain conditions were met.