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

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

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

The author states that biodiesel made from vegetable oil was worse for the climate than nonrenewable fuel sources.

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

Since 2008, the UK has actually required fuel providers to add a growing proportion of sustainable materials into the gas and diesel they provide. These biofuels are generally ethanol distilled from corn and biodiesel made from rapeseed, utilized cooking oil and tallow.

Deep fried fuel

But research carried out for Chatham House says that reaching the 5% level means that UK motorists will need to pay an additional ₤ 460m a year since of the higher cost of fuel at the pump and from filling up more often as biofuels have a lower energy material.

The report state that if the UK is to satisfy its responsibilities to EU energy targets the cost to motorists is most likely to increase to ₤ 1.3 bn per annum by 2020.

"It is tough to find any great news," Rob Bailey, senior research fellow at Chatham House, informed BBC News.

"Biofuels increase costs and they are a really pricey way to minimize carbon emissions," he said.

The EU biofuel mandates are also having hugely distorting impacts in the marketplace. Because utilized cooking oil is considered among the most sustainable kinds of biodiesel, the price for it has risen quickly. Rob Bailey states that towards the end of 2012 it was more pricey than refined palm oil.

"It develops a financial incentive to purchase refined palm oil, cook a chip in it to turn it into used cooking oil and after that sell it at earnings,"

"It is crazy but the incentives are there."

There are likewise frets that taking EU land out of production to grow rapeseed oil in particular is developing more climate issues than it fixes. The more fuel of this type that is put into cars the larger the deficit created in the edible oils market. This had lead to increased imports of palm oil from Indonesia, typically produced on deforested land.

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

"Plus you are asking drivers to pay more for the fuel - it makes no sense, it is a completely unreasonable strategy."

Biofuel benefits

The European Biodiesel Board (EBB), which represents the market, external across the EU, stated it was conscious of the problems brought on by the required. But it believes that biofuels have many positives.

"Blaming biofuels for all the difficulties in the world is a bit too overstated," stated Isabelle Maurizi, task manager at the EBB.

"It has actually brought great deals of advantages. It has actually improved the security of our diesel; it has minimized EU dependence on animal feed imports, thanks to the rapeseed we grow for biodiesel."

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

As the UK hits the 5% of liquid fuels mark, the federal government deals with some difficult decisions on how to move forward on this concern as it deals with tripling the costs for motorists by 2020.

Insiders recommend its choice would be to attempt and get arrangement in Brussels on the effects of indirect costs which might constrain what counts as biofuel. However getting arrangement from nations with effective farming sectors who take advantage of the present arrangement will be difficult.

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

County begins 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