Biofuels: 'Irrational' and 'worse than nonrenewable fuel sources'
The UK's "unreasonable" usage 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 dependence on sustainable liquid fuels will also increase food prices.
The author says that biodiesel made from veggie oil was worse for the climate 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 required fuel suppliers to include a growing proportion of sustainable materials into the petrol and diesel they supply. These biofuels are mainly ethanol distilled from corn and biodiesel made from rapeseed, utilized cooking oil and tallow.
Deep fried fuel
But research performed for Chatham House states that reaching the 5% level means that UK motorists will have to pay an additional ₤ 460m a year since of the higher cost of fuel at the pump and from filling up more frequently as biofuels have a lower energy content.
The report state that if the UK is to meet its obligations to EU energy targets the cost to drivers is likely to increase to ₤ 1.3 bn per year by 2020.
"It is tough to discover any excellent news," Rob Bailey, senior research fellow at Chatham House, told BBC News.
"Biofuels increase expenses and they are a really expensive method to minimize carbon emissions," he stated.
The EU biofuel mandates are also having extremely distorting results in the market. Because utilized cooking oil is related to as one of the most sustainable types of biodiesel, the rate for it has actually risen rapidly. Rob Bailey states that towards completion of 2012 it was more expensive than refined palm oil.
"It creates a financial incentive to buy refined palm oil, prepare a chip in it to turn it into utilized cooking oil and then sell it at profit,"
"It is insane but the rewards exist."
There are also stresses that taking EU land out of production to grow rapeseed oil in particular is developing more environment problems than it resolves. The more fuel of this type that is put into automobiles the bigger the deficit produced in the edible oils market. This had actually caused increased imports of palm oil from Indonesia, typically produced on deforested land.
"Once you take into consideration these indirect effects, biofuels made from veggie oils really result worldwide in more emissions than you would obtain from using diesel in the very first location," stated Rob Bailey.
"Plus you are asking motorists to pay more for the fuel - it makes no sense, it is a totally illogical technique."
Biofuel benefits
The European Biodiesel Board (EBB), which represents the industry, external throughout the EU, said it knew the problems brought on by the mandate. But it thinks that biofuels have many positives.
"Blaming biofuels for all the difficulties worldwide is a bit too overstated," said Isabelle Maurizi, project manager at the EBB.
"It has actually brought lots of advantages. It has improved the security of our diesel
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Biofuels: 'Irrational' and 'Worse than Nonrenewable Fuel Source'
Andreas Northrup edited this page 3 months ago