Biofuels: 'Irrational' and 'even Worse than Nonrenewable Fuel Source'

Biofuels: 'Irrational' and 'worse than nonrenewable fuel sources'

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

A report by Chatham House, external says the growing dependence on sustainable liquid fuels will also increase food rates.

The author says that biodiesel made from grease was worse for the climate than fossil fuels.

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

Since 2008, the UK has actually required fuel suppliers to add a growing percentage of sustainable products into the fuel and diesel they provide. These biofuels are generally ethanol distilled from corn and biodiesel made from rapeseed, used cooking oil and tallow.

Deep fried fuel

But research carried out for Chatham House says that reaching the 5% level suggests that UK vehicle drivers will have to pay an additional ₤ 460m a year because of the higher cost of fuel at the pump and from filling more frequently as biofuels have a lower energy content.

The report say that if the UK is to satisfy its responsibilities to EU energy targets the cost to drivers is likely to increase to ₤ 1.3 bn per year by 2020.

"It is difficult to find any excellent news," Rob Bailey, senior research fellow at Chatham House, told BBC News.

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

The EU biofuel mandates are also having hugely distorting results in the marketplace. Because utilized cooking oil is concerned as among the most sustainable kinds of biodiesel, the price for it has risen rapidly. Rob Bailey says that towards completion of 2012 it was more expensive than refined palm oil.

"It creates a financial reward to purchase refined palm oil, cook a chip in it to turn it into utilized cooking oil and then offer it at earnings,"

"It is insane however the incentives are there."

There are also worries that taking EU land out of production to grow rapeseed oil in particular is creating more climate issues than it solves. The more fuel of this type that is taken into cars the bigger the deficit produced in the edible oils market. This had actually resulted in increased imports of palm oil from Indonesia, often produced on deforested land.

"Once you take into consideration these indirect impacts, biofuels made from veggie oils actually result worldwide in more emissions than you would get from utilizing diesel in the first place," stated Rob Bailey.

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

Biofuel advantages

The European Biodiesel Board (EBB), which represents the industry, external across the EU, said it understood the issues brought on by the mandate. But it believes that biofuels have many positives.

"Blaming biofuels for all the difficulties on the planet is a bit too exaggerated," said Isabelle Maurizi, job supervisor at the EBB.

"It has brought great deals of benefits. It has improved the security of our diesel; it has actually minimized EU dependence 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 deals with some challenging decisions on how to move on on this concern as it deals with tripling the expenses for motorists by 2020.

Insiders suggest its preference would be to attempt and get agreement in Brussels on the effects of indirect costs which may constrain what counts as biofuel. However getting agreement from countries with powerful farming sectors who gain from the existing plan will be challenging.