Drivers across Northern Ireland will soon be able to fill up with greener fuel when E10 petrol is rolled out as the new standard grade of petrol from 1 November 2022.

The rollout of E10, which is petrol blended with up to 10% renewable ethanol, will help Northern Ireland to decarbonise transport, as it is greener than existing petrol. Its use across the UK could contribute to cutting transport CO2 emissions in the UK by potentially 750,000 tonnes a year – equivalent to a forest the size of the Isle of Wight capturing carbon every year.

To help raise awareness of the upcoming switch, the UK government is today (29 August 2022) launching an information campaign for motorists in Northern Ireland that will see new fuel pump labels as well as targeted digital, radio and social media advertising. 

While 95% of petrol cars will be compatible, the campaign will encourage those who are unsure to check their vehicle can use the fuel using our online compatibility checker tool. This will ask you for information about your car before checking a database highlighting your car’s compatibility.

As well as playing a part in the UK’s ambitions to decarbonise transport and reach its net zero goals, according to industry, the rollout of E10 petrol could support thousands of jobs throughout the supply chain and boost job opportunities across the country.

This is something that Vivergo, a British ethanol producer, has already seen, with 100 new jobs since E10’s introduction in Great Britain and as we work towards decarbonisation, this will hopefully be a sign of more opportunities.

Decarbonisation Minister Trudy Harrison said:

We’re determined to cut emissions from all our roads and clean up our air, as we accelerate towards a zero-emission transport future.

Although more and more motorists are driving electric vehicles, there are steps we can take to reduce emissions from the millions of vehicles already on our roads. The small switch to E10 petrol will not only help drivers across the country reduce their environmental impact, but also could create thousands of jobs across the UK.

Secretary of State for Northern Ireland Shailesh Vara said:

The government is committed to supporting the growth of green energy across the UK and the introduction of E10 petrol will help reduce emissions of carbon dioxide on Northern Ireland roads.

The decarbonisation of transport methods has an important part to play in achieving the UK’s net zero goals as well as creating opportunities for growth in our economy.

Gaynor Hartnell, Chief Executive of the Renewable Transport Fuel Association (RTFA) said:

Most petrol cars on the road are optimised to run on E10, and it’s very welcome that motorists in Northern Ireland will soon benefit from having access to this greener fuel.

The introduction of E10 will see renewable ethanol in petrol double, from the current petrol blend E5 containing no more than 5% ethanol, further reducing emissions from millions of cars in line with our climate targets.

A small number of older vehicles, including classic cars and some from the early 2000s, will continue to need E5 fuel, which is why supplies of E5 petrol will be maintained in the ‘super’ petrol grade. Motorists are advised to use the E10 compatibility checker to see if their vehicle is compatible.

• The extension would make it easier for skilled professionals returning to the NHS to deliver high-quality care to patients
• Move would help to bolster the workforce ahead of winter so the they can continue to bust the Covid backlogs

Retired and partially retired NHS staff could have important NHS pension changes extended to make it easier for them to return to the workforce or to continue supporting the health system over winter, as the government launches a new consultation today.

Ahead of what could be a challenging winter where we expect more people to come forward for checks, these measures will help support and boost the workforce. In this way, we are putting in place preparations that will put the health system in the strongest possible position to tackle the pressures and bust the Covid backlogs.

Since March 2020, certain retire and return rules in the pension scheme have been suspended to allow retired staff to return to work or increase their working commitments without having the payment of their pension benefits suspended.

The measures are currently set to run until 31 October 2022 and the consultation will gather views from the public and stakeholders on whether to extend the measures to 31 March 2023.

This would allow skilled and experienced staff and have stepped up to support the system to continue working for the NHS throughout the potentially challenging upcoming winter period, easing pressures on the system and helping to tackle the Covid backlogs.

Health and Social Care Secretary Steve Barclay said:

The country is hugely thankful to all the retired staff who returned to support the NHS and the public during the pandemic.

This winter will be challenging too and we are putting in place the necessary preparations to support the NHS while it continues to deliver first-rate care to patients.

As part of this we are now consulting on extending temporary changes to the NHS pension scheme, which have so far allowed highly-skilled retired staff to return to the workforce without having their pension benefits affected.

The NHS pension scheme is one of the best available, providing generous retirement benefits for hardworking staff after a lifetime of service looking after the nation’s health.

The government is committed to growing and supporting the NHS workforce, with over 4,100 more doctors and 9,600 more nurses compared to last year, and remains on track to deliver on the manifesto commitment to have 50,000 more nurses by 2024, with 29,000 more nurses already. The government has also commissioned NHS England to develop a long term workforce plan to recruit and support staff while they deliver high-quality, safe care to patients.

To prepare for winter, the government is working closely with the NHS at pace to prepare for the pressures ahead, including by increasing capacity, boosting NHS 111 and 999 support with at least 4,800 staff working in 111 and 2,500 in 999 call rooms to meet high demand, tackling delayed discharge and using new innovations such as virtual wards by creating the equivalent of at least 7,000 more beds.

The Secretary of State for Health and Social Care and NHS England recently set out plans to address winter pressures. He has also launched a taskforce to drive up the recruitment of international staff into critical roles across the system, alongside recruiting and retaining more doctors and nurses, so staff can continue their work of busting the Covid backlogs, having now virtually eliminated waits of over two years as part of the Elective Recovery Plan – backed by record investment.

Background

• These measures were originally provided by Section 45 of the Coronavirus Act from March 2020 to March 2022, then until 31 October 2022, they have been continued via temporary amendments to NHS Pension Scheme regulations. The consultation will run until 12 September 2022.

The months ahead are going to be tough, perhaps very tough. Our energy bills are going to be eye-watering. For many of us, the cost of heating our homes is already frightening.

And yet I have never been more certain that we will come through this well – and that Britain will emerge stronger and more  prosperous the other side.

 Let us remember who caused this global surge in the cost of energy, and what is at stake.

Yes, we were already seeing  supply chain pressures last year, caused by the aftershocks of Covid, and that was causing a rise in some global prices.

But by the end of last year we were fixing it. The world was finding the lorry drivers. The  container ships were moving. We were sourcing the silicon chips.

What no one had bargained for was the decision of Vladimir Putin – and it was his decision alone – to launch a vicious and irrational attack, on February 24, against an innocent European country.

It was Putin’s barbaric invasion that spooked the energy markets.

It is Putin’s war that is costing British consumers. That is why your energy bill is doubling. I am afraid Putin knows it. He likes it. And he wants us to buckle.

 He believes that soft European politicians will not have the  stomach for the struggle – that this coming winter we will throw in the sponge, take off the sanctions and go begging for Russian oil and gas.

He believes we will tire of backing Ukraine and begin discreetly to encourage the Ukrainians to do a deal, however nauseating, with the tyrant in the Kremlin.

That would be utter madness. In this brutal arm-wrestle, the Ukrainian people can and will win. And so will Britain.

With every month that goes by Putin’s position grows weaker. His ability to bully and blackmail is diminishing. And Britain’s position will grow stronger.

We must and we will help people through the crisis. Colossal sums  of taxpayers’ money are already committed to helping people pay their bills. That cash is flowing now – and will continue to flow in the months ahead.

Another chunk of the £650 is already due to go to the eight million most vulnerable households this autumn. There is another £300 going to  pensioners in November, £150 for the disabled and £400 for all energy bill payers.

Next month – whoever takes over from me – the Government will announce another huge package of financial support. It is worth remembering why we are in a   position to make these payments.

We have the cash to support  families across the country because we have already proved the  pessimists wrong. 

I remember sitting in the Cabinet room for an economic briefing in 2020 as the waves of the pandemic broke over the world and we saw the biggest drop in output for 300 years. They told me UK unemployment would top 14 per cent.

They said that millions would be thrown on to the economic scrapheap – with all the consequent costs to the Exchequer.

They were wrong. After becoming the first country in the world to approve an effective vaccine, we staged the fastest vaccine roll-out in Europe, the fastest exit from Covid. As a result we had the fastest growth in the G7 last year and instead of mass unemployment we have about 640,000 MORE people in payrolled employment than before the pandemic began.

Instead of being at 14 per cent, unemployment is at 3.8 per cent, nearly the lowest for almost 50 years. That is giving us the fundamental economic strength to endure this crisis – as the Russian economy continues to melt down.

We are ending our dependency on Russian hydrocarbons. In June, for the first time in decades, we did not import any fuel from Russia. The UK has already stepped up production of domestic gas – 26 per cent more this year than last.

With every new windfarm we build offshore, with every new nuclear project we approve, we strengthen our strategic position. We become less vulnerable to the vagaries of the global gas price and less vulnerable to Putin’s pressure.

It is this Government that has reversed the apathy of decades and greenlighted new nuclear plants.

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We are going to build a new  reactor every year and will have a colossal 50 gigawatts of offshore wind by 2030 – almost half our total electricity consumption.

This British Energy Security Strategy is just a part of a vast  programme to make the economy more productive and competitive. 

In just three years we have increased the coverage of gigabit broadband from seven per cent of households to 70 per cent. We are strengthening the economic sinews of the country with the biggest investment in rail – three new high speed lines – for a century.

We have invested massively in skills, so that people can improve their qualifications throughout their lives.

We have taken decisive steps to make this the best place in the world to invest and start a business. We are axing dozens of burdensome EU laws – including Solvency 2 and MiFID, that acted as unnecessary deterrents to investment.

We are creating eight new free- ports, cutting taxes on investment and lengthening our lead as  a science superpower – with  £22billion of investment in science and a new Advanced Research agency to crack the big problems of our time, from dementia to zero carbon aviation.

All this is paying off in jobs and growth. In the first quarter of  this year the UK attracted more venture capital investment in technology than China.

We have more tech investment than France, Germany and Israel combined and we produce a new billion pound “unicorn” company roughly every two weeks.

These new ideas are blooming not just in the golden triangle of Oxford, Cambridge and London but across the whole UK as we drive forward our levelling up agenda.

We have laid the foundations for long-term gains in prosperity and productivity. We know we will bounce back from the crisis in the cost of energy as we rapidly build up our own UK supplies.

That is why we will succeed and why we cannot flinch now.

If Putin is allowed to get away with his murder and mayhem, and to change the borders of Europe by force, then he will simply do it again, elsewhere on the periphery of the former Soviet Union.

Other countries will draw the  lesson that violence and aggression can pay off and that will usher in a new cycle of political and economic instability.

That is why we must continue to back the Ukrainians – and their military success continues to be remarkable. Volodymyr Zelenskyy has shown his country is fundamentally unconquerable.

Now is the time for the West to double down our support, not to go wobbly.

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We have more than enough resilience to get through tough months ahead. We have shown that before.

And we have made the long term decisions – including on domestic energy supply – to ensure that our bounceback can and should be remarkable and that our future will be golden.