The fuel you put in your tank already contains some level of bio-fuels. But a recent report suggests that to take the current percentage up to a 10% level may actually cause more harm than good.
This is all down to the area of land required to cultivate bio-fuels to meet EU targets that can only be done by converting current land use into something else – most likely leading to deforestation. The changes required would be on such a scale that the carbon released from the vegetation, trees and soil will be far greater than those given off by fossil fuels they are designed to replace. A study, from the Institute for European Environmental Policy, found that far from being 35 to 50 per cent less polluting, as required by a European Directive, the extra biofuels will be twice as bad for the environment.
The original sources of bio-fuels, made from crops such as oilseed rape, sugar cane and palms, were once considered a solution to burning fossil fuels. They would give off the same amount of carbon as they had absorbed when growing – making them carbon neutral.
Last year Britain signed up to a European Union directive agreeing to use bio-fuels to provide 10 per cent of the total energy used in transport fuels (what you use in your car, used by lorries or buses, even trains) by 2020, as part of a National Renewable Energy Action Plan. But, there is now a growing body of scientific evidence that suggests that far from reducing emissions, bio-fuels may be increasing them.
Now, there isn’t enough available land in Europe to grow the required level of bio-fuels so it means forests in South America and Asia are being destroyed to meet our demand. Bio-fuel businesses are getting round certain restrictions on the use of “new” agricultural land by buying up existing land in other parts of the world. These forests are then cut down.
Almost all bio-fuels used in the UK come from sources outside the EU, and the UK is expected to be the largest single importer from outside the EU in order to reach its targets. In its response to a European consultation on biofuels published yesterday on the Department of Transport’s website, the Government said it was time to reassess the policy.
“What our report found was for European member states to meet their recently published plans on biofuels, they would have to cultivate an area somewhere between the size of Belgium and the Republic of Ireland. This is not viable and will result in a big Indirect Land Use Change outside the EU,” he said.
Recently the Lib Dem Transport Minister Norman Baker said the Government was pushing the European Commission to take action to reduce the risk that producing biofuels will have knock-on effects including deforestation.
“Like other EU member states, the UK is required to source 10 per cent of its transport energy from renewable sources by 2020, however I agree that the environmental benefits of biofuels can only be realised if they are produced in a sustainable way.”
Will increase in use of bio-fuels cause more harm than good
The fuel you put in your tank already contains some level of bio-fuels. But a recent report suggests that to take the current percentage up to a 10% level may actually cause more harm than good.
This is all down to the area of land required to cultivate bio-fuels to meet EU targets that can only be done by converting current land use into something else – most likely leading to deforestation. The changes required would be on such a scale that the carbon released from the vegetation, trees and soil will be far greater than those given off by fossil fuels they are designed to replace. A study, from the Institute for European Environmental Policy, found that far from being 35 to 50 per cent less polluting, as required by a European Directive, the extra biofuels will be twice as bad for the environment.
The original sources of bio-fuels, made from crops such as oilseed rape, sugar cane and palms, were once considered a solution to burning fossil fuels. They would give off the same amount of carbon as they had absorbed when growing – making them carbon neutral.
Last year Britain signed up to a European Union directive agreeing to use bio-fuels to provide 10 per cent of the total energy used in transport fuels (what you use in your car, used by lorries or buses, even trains) by 2020, as part of a National Renewable Energy Action Plan. But, there is now a growing body of scientific evidence that suggests that far from reducing emissions, bio-fuels may be increasing them.
Now, there isn’t enough available land in Europe to grow the required level of bio-fuels so it means forests in South America and Asia are being destroyed to meet our demand. Bio-fuel businesses are getting round certain restrictions on the use of “new” agricultural land by buying up existing land in other parts of the world. These forests are then cut down.
Almost all bio-fuels used in the UK come from sources outside the EU, and the UK is expected to be the largest single importer from outside the EU in order to reach its targets. In its response to a European consultation on biofuels published yesterday on the Department of Transport’s website, the Government said it was time to reassess the policy.
“What our report found was for European member states to meet their recently published plans on biofuels, they would have to cultivate an area somewhere between the size of Belgium and the Republic of Ireland. This is not viable and will result in a big Indirect Land Use Change outside the EU,” he said.
Recently the Lib Dem Transport Minister Norman Baker said the Government was pushing the European Commission to take action to reduce the risk that producing biofuels will have knock-on effects including deforestation.
“Like other EU member states, the UK is required to source 10 per cent of its transport energy from renewable sources by 2020, however I agree that the environmental benefits of biofuels can only be realised if they are produced in a sustainable way.”