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

The UK's "irrational" use of biofuels will cost drivers around ₤ 460 million over the next 12 months, a think tank says.

A report by Chatham House, external states the growing reliance on sustainable liquid fuels will also increase food prices.

The author says that biodiesel made from grease was even worse for the climate than nonrenewable fuel sources.

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 add a growing proportion of sustainable products into the petrol and diesel they supply. These biofuels are primarily ethanol distilled from corn and biodiesel made from rapeseed, utilized cooking oil and tallow.

Deep fried fuel

But research study carried out for Chatham House states that reaching the 5% level indicates that UK drivers will need to pay an additional ₤ 460m a year due to the fact that of the greater expense of fuel at the pump and from filling more frequently as biofuels have a lower energy content.

The report say that if the UK is to satisfy its commitments to EU energy targets the cost to drivers is likely to increase to ₤ 1.3 bn per annum by 2020.

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

"Biofuels increase costs and they are an extremely expensive way to reduce carbon emissions," he stated.

The EU biofuel mandates are likewise having hugely distorting results in the marketplace. Because utilized cooking oil is considered as one of the most sustainable kinds of biodiesel, the cost for it has risen quickly. Rob Bailey states that towards the end 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 after that sell it at profit,"

"It is insane but the rewards are there."

There are also frets that taking EU land out of production to grow rapeseed oil in specific is developing more environment problems than it resolves. The more fuel of this type that is put into vehicles the larger the deficit developed 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 effects, biofuels made from vegetable oils in fact result worldwide in more emissions than you would obtain from using diesel in the first location," stated Rob Bailey.

"Plus you are asking vehicle drivers to pay more for the fuel - it makes no sense, it is an entirely unreasonable technique."

Biofuel advantages

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

"Blaming biofuels for all the troubles in the world is a bit too exaggerated," said Isabelle Maurizi, task manager at the EBB.

"It has brought great deals of advantages. It has improved the security of our diesel; it has minimized EU dependence 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 deals with some tough decisions on how to move on on this problem as it faces tripling the costs for motorists by 2020.

Insiders recommend its preference would be to try and get arrangement in Brussels on the effects of indirect costs which may constrain what counts as biofuel. However getting arrangement from nations with powerful agricultural sectors who take advantage of the present arrangement will be difficult.

"When you have a lobby that includes the agricultural sector and the oil sector it is very hard for Governments to make a U-turn," said Rob Bailey.

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