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

The UK's "irrational" usage of biofuels will cost vehicle 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 likewise increase food rates.

The author says 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 transportation fuel from today.

Since 2008, the UK has required fuel suppliers to include a growing proportion of sustainable products into the fuel and diesel they supply. These biofuels are primarily ethanol distilled from corn and biodiesel made from rapeseed, used cooking oil and tallow.

Deep fried fuel

But research study carried out for Chatham House says that reaching the 5% level indicates that UK vehicle 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 more typically as biofuels have a lower energy material.

The report say that if the UK is to meet its responsibilities to EU energy targets the cost to motorists is 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, told BBC News.

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

The EU biofuel mandates are likewise having extremely distorting results in the market. Because utilized cooking oil is related to as one of the most sustainable kinds of biodiesel, the rate for it has risen quickly. Rob Bailey states that towards completion of 2012 it was more costly than refined palm oil.

"It creates a financial incentive to purchase refined palm oil, prepare a chip in it to turn it into utilized cooking oil and after that sell it at profit,"

"It is crazy but the incentives are there."

There are also worries that taking EU land out of production to grow rapeseed oil in particular is creating more environment issues than it resolves. The more fuel of this type that is taken into automobiles the larger the deficit produced in the edible oils market. This had caused increased imports of palm oil from Indonesia, typically produced on deforested land.

"Once you take into account these indirect impacts, biofuels made from vegetable oils in fact result worldwide in more emissions than you would receive from utilizing diesel in the first location," said Rob Bailey.

"Plus you are asking drivers to pay more for the fuel - it makes no sense, it is a totally unreasonable technique."

Biofuel benefits

The European Biodiesel Board (EBB), which represents the market, external throughout the EU, said it was aware of the problems brought on by the mandate. But it thinks that biofuels have many positives.

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

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