Biofuels: 'Irrational' and 'worse than fossil fuels'

The UK's "illogical" use of biofuels will cost 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 vegetable oil was even worse for the climate 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 proportion of sustainable materials into the fuel and diesel they provide. These biofuels are mainly ethanol distilled from corn and biodiesel made from rapeseed, used cooking oil and tallow.

Deep fried fuel

But research study brought out for Chatham House says that reaching the 5% level suggests that UK drivers will have to pay an additional ₤ 460m a year due to the fact that of the higher expense of fuel at the pump and from filling up regularly as biofuels have a lower energy content.

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

"It is difficult to discover any good news," Rob Bailey, senior research fellow at Chatham House, News.

"Biofuels increase expenses and they are an extremely costly method to decrease carbon emissions," he said.

The EU biofuel mandates are likewise having extremely distorting results in the marketplace. Because used cooking oil is considered as one of the most sustainable kinds of biodiesel, the rate for it has increased quickly. Rob Bailey says that towards completion of 2012 it was more pricey than refined palm oil.

"It creates a financial incentive to purchase refined palm oil, prepare a chip in it to turn it into used cooking oil and after that offer it at revenue,"

"It is insane however the rewards exist."

There are also stresses that taking EU land out of production to grow rapeseed oil in specific is creating more environment problems than it solves. The more fuel of this type that is put into cars the larger the deficit created in the edible oils market. This had resulted in increased imports of palm oil from Indonesia, often produced on deforested land.

"Once you take into consideration these indirect effects, biofuels made from vegetable oils in fact result worldwide in more emissions than you would receive from utilizing diesel in the very first place," stated Rob Bailey.

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

Biofuel benefits

The European Biodiesel Board (EBB), which represents the industry, external throughout the EU, said it was mindful of the issues brought on by the mandate. But it believes that biofuels have numerous positives.

"Blaming biofuels for all the problems in the world is a bit too exaggerated," stated Isabelle Maurizi, project supervisor at the EBB.

"It has actually brought lots of advantages. It has actually enhanced the security of our diesel