Biofuels: 'Irrational' and 'even 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 states.

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

The author says that biodiesel made from veggie oil was worse for the climate than nonrenewable fuel sources.

Under EU law, external, biofuels are set to make up 5% of the UK's transport fuel from today.

Since 2008, the UK has required fuel providers to add a growing proportion of sustainable materials into the gas 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 brought out for Chatham House states that reaching the 5% level suggests that UK motorists will have to pay an additional ₤ 460m a year because of the higher expense of fuel at the pump and from filling up regularly as biofuels have a lower energy material.

The report say that if the UK is to satisfy its commitments to EU energy targets the expense to motorists is most likely to rise to ₤ 1.3 bn per year by 2020.

"It is hard to find any excellent news," Rob Bailey, senior research fellow at Chatham House, told BBC News.

"Biofuels increase costs and they are a very expensive method to reduce carbon emissions," he said.

The EU biofuel mandates are also having hugely distorting results in the marketplace. Because utilized cooking oil is considered among the most sustainable kinds of biodiesel, the cost for it has risen rapidly. Rob Bailey says that towards the end of 2012 it was more costly than refined palm oil.

"It produces a monetary incentive to buy refined palm oil, prepare a chip in it to turn it into used cooking oil and then offer it at earnings,"

"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 producing more environment issues than it resolves. The more fuel of this type that is taken into automobiles the bigger the deficit developed in the edible oils market. This had lead to increased imports of palm oil from Indonesia, typically produced on deforested land.

"Once you consider these indirect results, biofuels made from vegetable oils in fact result worldwide in more emissions than you would obtain from utilizing diesel in the first place," Bailey.

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

Biofuel advantages

The European Biodiesel Board (EBB), which represents the market, external throughout the EU, said it understood the problems brought on by the mandate. But it believes that biofuels have numerous positives.

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

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