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

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

A report by Chatham House, external says the growing dependence on sustainable liquid fuels will also increase .

The author states 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 transport fuel from today.

Since 2008, the UK has actually required fuel providers to include a growing proportion of sustainable materials into the gas 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 performed for Chatham House states that reaching the 5% level implies that UK motorists will need to pay an extra ₤ 460m a year since of the greater expense of fuel at the pump and from filling up more frequently as biofuels have a lower energy material.

The report say that if the UK is to meet its obligations to EU energy targets the cost to vehicle drivers is likely to rise to ₤ 1.3 bn per annum by 2020.

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

"Biofuels increase costs and they are a very costly method to decrease carbon emissions," he stated.

The EU biofuel mandates are likewise having extremely distorting effects in the market. Because utilized cooking oil is considered among the most sustainable types of biodiesel, the cost for it has risen rapidly. Rob Bailey says that towards completion of 2012 it was more expensive than refined palm oil.

"It develops a monetary reward to buy refined palm oil, cook a chip in it to turn it into used cooking oil and then offer it at revenue,"

"It is crazy but the incentives are there."

There are likewise stresses that taking EU land out of production to grow rapeseed oil in specific is developing more environment problems than it solves. The more fuel of this type that is taken into cars the bigger the deficit developed in the edible oils market. This had lead to increased imports of palm oil from Indonesia, frequently produced on deforested land.

"Once you consider these indirect impacts, biofuels made from vegetable oils actually result worldwide in more emissions than you would get from utilizing diesel in the first location," stated Rob Bailey.

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

Biofuel advantages

The European Biodiesel Board (EBB), which represents the industry, external throughout the EU, stated it was aware of the problems brought on by the required. But it believes that biofuels have lots of positives.

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

"It has brought lots of benefits. It has actually improved the security of our diesel; it has actually 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 government deals with some hard choices on how to progress on this issue as it faces tripling the costs for vehicle drivers 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 contract from nations with effective agricultural sectors who gain from the present arrangement will be hard.

"When you have a lobby which includes the agricultural sector and the oil sector it is extremely tough for Governments to make a U-turn," stated Rob Bailey.

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