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

The UK's "illogical" use of biofuels will cost motorists 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 prices.

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 make up 5% of the UK's transportation fuel from today.

Since 2008, the UK has actually needed fuel suppliers to include a growing percentage of sustainable products into the gas 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 performed 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 expense of fuel at the pump and from filling regularly as biofuels have a lower energy material.

The report say that if the UK is to fulfill its obligations to EU energy targets the to vehicle drivers is likely to rise to ₤ 1.3 bn per year by 2020.

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

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

The EU biofuel mandates are likewise having hugely distorting results in the market. Because utilized cooking oil is related to as one of the most sustainable kinds of biodiesel, the cost for it has actually increased quickly. Rob Bailey states that towards completion of 2012 it was more costly than refined palm oil.

"It creates a financial reward to purchase refined palm oil, prepare a chip in it to turn it into used cooking oil and then sell it at revenue,"

"It is crazy but the incentives exist."

There are likewise stresses that taking EU land out of production to grow rapeseed oil in particular is producing more environment problems than it resolves. The more fuel of this type that is put into vehicles the larger the deficit created in the edible oils market. This had actually lead to increased imports of palm oil from Indonesia, often produced on deforested land.

"Once you consider these indirect results, biofuels made from veggie oils really result worldwide in more emissions than you would get from using diesel in the first location," said Rob Bailey.

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

Biofuel benefits

The European Biodiesel Board (EBB), which represents the market, external across the EU, stated it was aware of the issues triggered by the required. But it thinks that biofuels have many positives.

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

"It has brought great deals of advantages. It has enhanced the security of our diesel; it has reduced EU dependency 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 strikes the 5% of liquid fuels mark, the government faces some tough decisions on how to progress on this problem as it faces tripling the costs for motorists by 2020.

Insiders recommend its choice would be to try and get arrangement in Brussels on the effects of indirect costs which may constrain what counts as biofuel. However getting agreement from countries with effective farming sectors who gain from the current arrangement will be difficult.

"When you have a lobby which consists of the agricultural sector and the oil sector it is really tough for Governments to make a U-turn," said Rob Bailey.

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