Biofuels: ‘Irrational’ and ‘worse than fossil fuels’

The UK’s “unreasonable” use of biofuels will cost drivers around ₤ 460 million over the next 12 months, a think tank says.

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

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

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

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

Deep fried fuel

But research carried out for Chatham House states that reaching the 5% level means that UK drivers will need to pay an extra ₤ 460m a year since of the higher expense 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 meet its commitments to EU energy targets the cost to vehicle drivers is most likely to increase to ₤ 1.3 bn per year by 2020.

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

“Biofuels increase expenses and they are a very costly way to reduce carbon emissions,” he stated.

The EU biofuel mandates are likewise having extremely distorting effects in the marketplace. Because used is related to as among the most sustainable types of biodiesel, the price for it has risen rapidly. Rob Bailey states that towards the end of 2012 it was more expensive than refined palm oil.

“It produces a financial reward to purchase refined palm oil, cook 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 producing more environment issues than it solves. The more fuel of this type that is taken into cars the bigger the deficit created in the edible oils market. This had lead to increased imports of palm oil from Indonesia, often produced on deforested land.

“Once you consider these indirect effects, biofuels made from vegetable oils actually result worldwide in more emissions than you would receive from utilizing diesel in the very first location,” stated Rob Bailey.

“Plus you are asking vehicle drivers to pay more for the fuel - it makes no sense, it is a completely unreasonable method.”

Biofuel benefits

The European Biodiesel Board (EBB), which represents the market, external throughout the EU, stated it knew the issues triggered by the mandate. But it believes that biofuels have numerous positives.

“Blaming biofuels for all the difficulties in the world is a bit too exaggerated,” stated Isabelle Maurizi, project manager at the EBB.

“It has actually brought great deals of advantages. It has actually improved the security of our diesel