Biofuels: 'Irrational' and 'worse than fossil fuels'
The UK's "irrational" 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 says the growing reliance on sustainable liquid fuels will also increase food prices.
The author says that biodiesel made from vegetable 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 transport fuel from today.
Since 2008, the UK has needed fuel providers to add a growing percentage of sustainable materials into the petrol 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 study brought out for Chatham House states that reaching the 5% level suggests that UK motorists will need to pay an extra ₤ 460m a year because of the higher expense of fuel at the pump and from filling more frequently as biofuels have a lower energy content.
The report state that if the UK is to satisfy its responsibilities to EU energy targets the expense to vehicle drivers is most likely to increase to ₤ 1.3 bn per annum by 2020.
"It is tough to discover any good 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 stated.
The EU biofuel mandates are likewise having hugely distorting impacts in the market. Because utilized cooking oil is related to as one of the most sustainable types of biodiesel, the cost for it has actually increased quickly. Rob Bailey says that towards completion of 2012 it was more costly than refined palm oil.
"It creates a monetary incentive to purchase refined palm oil, cook a chip in it to turn it into used cooking oil and then sell it at profit,"
"It is crazy however the rewards exist."
There are likewise worries that taking EU land out of production to grow rapeseed oil in specific is producing more environment issues than it solves. The more fuel of this type that is taken into automobiles the larger the deficit produced in the edible oils market. This had caused increased imports of palm oil from Indonesia, typically produced on deforested land.
"Once you take into consideration these indirect effects, biofuels made from vegetable oils actually result worldwide in more emissions than you would receive from using diesel in the very first place," stated Rob Bailey.
"Plus you are asking motorists to pay more for the fuel - it makes no sense, it is an entirely irrational technique."
Biofuel benefits
The European Biodiesel Board (EBB), which represents the industry, external across the EU, stated it knew the issues brought on by the mandate. But it thinks that biofuels have numerous positives.
"Blaming biofuels for all the difficulties in the world is a bit too overstated," said Isabelle Maurizi, task supervisor at the EBB.
"It has brought great deals of advantages. It has enhanced the security of our diesel; it has actually 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 strikes the 5% of liquid fuels mark, the federal government faces some tough decisions on how to move on on this concern as it deals with tripling the costs for vehicle drivers by 2020.
Insiders recommend its choice would be to attempt and get agreement in Brussels on the impacts of indirect expenses which might constrain what counts as biofuel. However getting agreement from countries with powerful agricultural sectors who take advantage of the current plan will be challenging.
"When you have a lobby that includes the farming sector and the oil sector it is very hard for Governments to make a U-turn," said Rob Bailey.
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