Biofuels: 'Irrational' and 'even 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 says.
A report by Chatham House, external says the growing reliance on sustainable liquid fuels will likewise increase food rates.
The author says that biodiesel made from grease was 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 providers to add a growing proportion of sustainable products into the gas and diesel they provide. These biofuels are primarily ethanol distilled from corn and biodiesel made from rapeseed, used cooking oil and tallow.
Deep fried fuel
But research study performed for Chatham House says that reaching the 5% level implies that UK vehicle drivers will have to pay an additional ₤ 460m a year since of the higher cost of fuel at the pump and from filling more frequently as biofuels have a lower energy material.
The report say that if the UK is to meet its obligations to EU energy targets the expense to drivers is likely to rise to ₤ 1.3 bn per year by 2020.
"It is hard to discover any good news," Rob Bailey, senior research fellow at Chatham House, informed BBC News.
"Biofuels increase costs and they are an extremely expensive method to lower carbon emissions," he said.
The EU biofuel mandates are also having hugely distorting effects in the market. Because utilized cooking oil is considered as one of the most sustainable kinds of biodiesel, the cost for it has risen rapidly. Rob Bailey says that towards the end of 2012 it was more costly than refined palm oil.
"It produces a financial incentive to buy refined palm oil, prepare a chip in it to turn it into utilized cooking oil and then sell it at profit,"
"It is crazy but the rewards are there."
There are likewise stresses that taking EU land out of production to grow rapeseed oil in particular is developing more climate problems than it resolves. The more fuel of this type that is put into automobiles the larger the deficit created 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 account these indirect impacts, biofuels made from veggie oils in fact result worldwide in more emissions than you would obtain from using diesel in the first place," 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 across the EU, said it understood the problems caused by the mandate. But it believes that biofuels have numerous positives.
"Blaming biofuels for all the troubles in the world is a bit too exaggerated," stated Isabelle Maurizi, job manager at the EBB.
"It has actually brought great deals of advantages. It has enhanced the security of our diesel; it has lowered 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 hits the 5% of liquid fuels mark, the government deals with some challenging decisions on how to progress on this issue as it faces tripling the costs for vehicle drivers by 2020.
Insiders recommend its preference would be to attempt and get arrangement in Brussels on the impacts of indirect costs which might constrain what counts as biofuel. However getting arrangement from nations with powerful agricultural sectors who take advantage of the present plan will be difficult.
"When you have a lobby that includes the agricultural sector and the oil sector it is really tough for Governments to make a U-turn," said Rob Bailey.
County starts 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
