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1 Biofuels: 'Irrational' and 'even Worse than Fossil Fuels'

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

The UK's "irrational" usage 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 reliance on sustainable liquid fuels will also increase food costs.

The author says that biodiesel made from vegetable oil was even 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 providers to add a growing proportion of sustainable products into the gas 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 study carried out for Chatham House states that reaching the 5% level implies that UK motorists will need to pay an extra ₤ 460m a year since of the greater cost of fuel at the pump and from filling up more frequently as biofuels have a lower energy material.

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

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

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

The EU biofuel requireds are likewise having extremely distorting impacts in the marketplace. Because utilized cooking oil is concerned as among the most sustainable kinds of biodiesel, the cost for it has increased rapidly. Rob Bailey says that towards the end of 2012 it was more costly than refined palm oil.

"It creates a monetary reward to buy refined palm oil, prepare a chip in it to turn it into used cooking oil and then offer it at revenue,"

"It is crazy but the rewards are there."

There are also stresses that taking EU land out of production to grow rapeseed oil in specific is producing more environment issues than it fixes. The more fuel of this type that is taken into vehicles the larger the in the edible oils market. This had resulted in increased imports of palm oil from Indonesia, frequently produced on deforested land.

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

"Plus you are asking vehicle drivers 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 market, external throughout the EU, stated it was mindful of the problems triggered by the mandate. But it thinks that biofuels have many positives.

"Blaming biofuels for all the difficulties on the planet is a bit too exaggerated," stated Isabelle Maurizi, task manager at the EBB.

"It has actually brought lots of benefits. It has enhanced the security of our diesel