Biofuels: 'Irrational' and 'even 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 says the growing dependence on sustainable liquid fuels will also increase food costs.
The author states that biodiesel made from grease was even worse for the climate than fossil fuels.
Under EU law, external, biofuels are set to make up 5% of the UK's transport fuel from today.
Since 2008, the UK has needed fuel providers to include a growing percentage of sustainable materials into the gas and diesel they supply. These biofuels are mainly ethanol distilled from corn and biodiesel made from rapeseed, used cooking oil and tallow.
Deep fried fuel
But research performed for Chatham House says that reaching the 5% level means that UK motorists will have to pay an additional ₤ 460m a year due to the fact that of the greater expense of fuel at the pump and from filling up more frequently as biofuels have a lower energy material.
The report state that if the UK is to meet its obligations to EU energy targets the cost to drivers is most likely to rise to ₤ 1.3 bn per year by 2020.
"It is hard to discover any good news," Rob Bailey, senior research study fellow at Chatham House, informed BBC News.
"Biofuels increase costs and they are an extremely costly method to decrease carbon emissions," he said.
The EU biofuel requireds are likewise having extremely distorting results in the marketplace. Because utilized cooking oil is considered as one of the most sustainable types of biodiesel, the rate for it has risen quickly. Rob Bailey states that towards completion of 2012 it was more pricey than refined palm oil.
"It produces a monetary reward to buy refined palm oil, prepare a chip in it to turn it into used cooking oil and then sell it at revenue,"
"It is insane but the rewards exist."
There are also frets that taking EU land out of production to grow rapeseed oil in specific is developing more environment issues than it solves. The more fuel of this type that is taken into vehicles the larger the deficit created in the edible oils market. This had lead to increased imports of palm oil from Indonesia, typically produced on deforested land.
"Once you take into consideration these indirect results, biofuels made from vegetable oils actually result worldwide in more emissions than you would receive from utilizing diesel in the first location," stated Rob Bailey.
"Plus you are asking motorists to pay more for the fuel - it makes no sense, it is a completely unreasonable technique."
Biofuel benefits
The European Biodiesel Board (EBB), which represents the market, external throughout the EU, said it understood the problems triggered by the mandate. But it thinks that biofuels have numerous positives.
"Blaming biofuels for all the difficulties in the world is a bit too exaggerated," said Isabelle Maurizi, task manager at the EBB.
"It has actually brought great deals of benefits. It has improved the security of our diesel; it has decreased EU reliance 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 difficult decisions on how to move on on this problem as it deals with tripling the costs for vehicle drivers by 2020.
Insiders recommend its preference would be to try and get contract in Brussels on the effects of indirect costs which might constrain what counts as biofuel. However getting arrangement from countries with effective agricultural sectors who take advantage of the present arrangement will be hard.
"When you have a lobby which includes the agricultural sector and the oil sector it is extremely difficult for Governments to make a U-turn," stated Rob Bailey.
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