Consumer confidence
Biofuel has had a rocky ride since it was first posited as an environmentally-friendly replacement for fossil fuels. Politicians climbed on board, then promptly jumped ship amid criticism that crops grown for fuel were contributing to global food shortages and price hikes for the world's poorest.
In February 2007, a series of breakdowns in the UK were traced to a suspect batch of fuel, supplied by Harvest Energy, the company now supplying B30 to Morrisons. Unusually high levels of silicon were detected, causing the failure of hundreds of cars' oxygen sensors and prompting Tescos to take out full page apologies in the press with a promise to pay for repairs.
While failures on that occasion were caused by contamination in petrol, questions about the suitability of higher blend biodiesel could further rock confidence in blended fuel. The industry fears problems with B30 may only arise after time or if service schedules are not rigorously maintained.
