Biofuels: 'Irrational' and 'worse than fossil fuels'
The UK's "unreasonable" use of biofuels will cost drivers around ₤ 460 million over the next 12 months, a think tank states.
A report by Chatham House, external states the growing dependence on sustainable liquid fuels will likewise increase food costs.
The author says that biodiesel made from grease was even worse for the environment than fossil fuels.
Under EU law, external, biofuels are set to comprise 5% of the UK's transportation fuel from today.
Since 2008, the UK has needed fuel suppliers to add a growing percentage of sustainable materials into the petrol 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 performed for Chatham House states that reaching the 5% level means that UK motorists will need to pay an extra ₤ 460m a year since of the higher cost of fuel at the pump and from filling up more often as biofuels have a lower energy content.
The report say that if the UK is to satisfy its responsibilities to EU energy targets the expense to vehicle drivers is most likely to rise to ₤ 1.3 bn per year by 2020.
"It is difficult to find any excellent news," Rob Bailey, senior research study fellow at Chatham House, told BBC News.
"Biofuels increase expenses and they are an extremely pricey way to minimize carbon emissions," he stated.
The EU biofuel requireds are likewise having extremely distorting results in the marketplace. Because used cooking oil is considered as among the most sustainable kinds of biodiesel, the cost for it has increased quickly. Rob Bailey says that towards the end of 2012 it was more costly than refined palm oil.
"It creates a monetary incentive to buy refined palm oil, prepare a chip in it to turn it into utilized cooking oil and then offer it at profit,"
"It is insane but the incentives are there."
There are likewise frets that taking EU land out of production to grow rapeseed oil in particular is developing more climate problems than it fixes. The more fuel of this type that is taken into automobiles the larger the deficit produced in the edible oils market. This had lead to increased imports of palm oil from Indonesia, often produced on deforested land.
"Once you take into account these indirect effects, biofuels made from vegetable oils actually result worldwide in more emissions than you would obtain from using diesel in the very first place," said Rob Bailey.
"Plus you are asking motorists to pay more for the fuel - it makes no sense, it is a completely illogical technique."
Biofuel benefits
The European Biodiesel Board (EBB), which represents the market, external throughout the EU, stated it understood the problems brought on by the mandate. But it thinks that biofuels have many positives.
"Blaming biofuels for all the problems worldwide is a bit too exaggerated," said Isabelle Maurizi, project manager at the EBB.
"It has actually brought great deals of advantages. It has actually improved the security of our diesel
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Biofuels: 'Irrational' and 'Worse than Nonrenewable Fuel Source'
Sondra Yamamoto edited this page 4 months ago