Biofuels: 'Irrational' and 'even worse than fossil fuels'

The UK's "unreasonable" use of biofuels will cost vehicle drivers around ₤ 460 million over the next 12 months, a think tank states.

A report by Chatham House, external states the growing reliance on sustainable liquid fuels will also increase food costs.

The author states that biodiesel made from veggie oil was even worse for the environment than nonrenewable fuel sources.

Under EU law, external, biofuels are set to comprise 5% of the UK's transportation fuel from today.

Since 2008, the UK has actually needed fuel suppliers to include a growing proportion of sustainable materials into the petrol and diesel they provide. These biofuels are mainly ethanol distilled from corn and biodiesel made from rapeseed, utilized cooking oil and tallow.

Deep fried fuel

But research brought out for Chatham House says that reaching the 5% level implies that UK vehicle drivers will need to pay an extra ₤ 460m a year due to the fact that of the higher cost of fuel at the pump and from filling more frequently as biofuels have a lower energy material.

The report say that if the UK is to fulfill its commitments to EU energy targets the cost to drivers is likely to rise to ₤ 1.3 bn per annum by 2020.

"It is tough to discover any good news," Rob Bailey, senior research fellow at Chatham House, told BBC News.

"Biofuels increase expenses and they are a very costly way to reduce carbon emissions," he said.

The EU biofuel requireds are likewise having hugely distorting impacts in the marketplace. Because utilized cooking oil is related to as one of the most sustainable kinds of biodiesel, the cost for it has actually increased quickly. Rob Bailey says that towards completion of 2012 it was more expensive than refined palm oil.

"It produces a monetary reward to purchase refined palm oil, prepare a chip in it to turn it into used cooking oil and then sell it at revenue,"

"It is crazy but the incentives are there."

There are also stresses that taking EU land out of production to grow rapeseed oil in particular is creating more climate problems than it fixes. The more fuel of this type that is put into cars the bigger the deficit created in the edible oils market. This had resulted in increased imports of palm oil from Indonesia, typically produced on deforested land.

"Once you take into consideration these indirect impacts, biofuels made from veggie oils really result worldwide in more emissions than you would get from using diesel in the very first location," said Rob Bailey.

"Plus you are asking motorists to pay more for the fuel - it makes no sense, it is an entirely illogical technique."

Biofuel benefits

The European Biodiesel Board (EBB), which represents the industry, external throughout the EU, stated it was mindful of the issues triggered by the mandate. But it thinks that biofuels have numerous positives.

"Blaming biofuels for all the troubles in the world is a bit too exaggerated," said Isabelle Maurizi, task supervisor at the EBB.

"It has brought lots of benefits. It has actually enhanced the security of our diesel; it has decreased EU dependency on animal feed imports, thanks to the rapeseed we grow for biodiesel."

"If there was no biodiesel farmers would simply make their land idle - no food, no feed!"

As the UK hits the 5% of liquid fuels mark, the government faces some hard choices on how to progress on this problem as it faces tripling the expenses for vehicle drivers by 2020.

Insiders suggest its choice would be to attempt and get arrangement in Brussels on the impacts of indirect costs which may constrain what counts as biofuel. However getting agreement from nations with powerful agricultural sectors who gain from the current arrangement will be challenging.

"When you have a lobby that includes the farming sector and the oil sector it is really difficult for Governments to make a U-turn," stated Rob Bailey.

County starts recycling chip fat

8 December 2010

How does Qantas fly on chip fat? Video, 00:02:00 How does Qantas fly on chip fat?

13 April 2012

Measuring energy crops' footprint

18 October 2012