Not so long ago biofuels were billed as a silver bullet that could cut greenhouse gas emissions from the transport sector. But, as recent studies have confirmed, many are worse for the climate than the fuels they replace and they are also contributing to price rises for food. This week the government-commissioned Gallagher review on the indirect impacts of biofuels has been released and confirms that chasing current EU and UK biofuels targets is unsustainable. You may think that the government would have been more prudent before setting mandatory targets for the use of biofuels, but in fact currently there is no sustainability criteria attached to them, leading to the use of highly questionable fuels.
Earlier this year we tested biofuels on sale at Tesco forecourts and found palm oil in their biodiesel - a crop linked directly to forest destruction and massive greenhouse gas emissions in Indonesia. Thankfully the Gallagher Review has opened the government's eyes to some of the risks of biofuels, but clear action is now required to limit the damage of current policies.
Although the Transport Secretary Ruth Kelly is talking about slowing down the uptake of biofuels, she has not put a halt to existing targets whilst issues around sustainability are fully resolved. She has also made no commitment to fight against the proposed EU target of 10% of of all fuel to come from biofuels by 2020. So, whilst the Gallagher review is welcome, the Government's response is just not good enough.
Even the World Bank president Robert Zoellick has asked developing nations at the G8 summit to review their biofuel use to control rising food prices hitting developing nations. The Head of the United Nations, Ban Ki-moon also called for the G8 to address problems of rising food prices, climate change and development. At the moment the Renewable Transport Fuels Obligation (RTFO) mandates that 2.5 per cent of petrol sold in the UK must come from biofuels.
Last week, a confidential World Bank report claimed biofuels were responsible for a 75 per cent rise in global food prices. In spite of all the damage caused by the use of biofuels, the government is not imposing a moratorium on targets for their use. If Gordon Brown is serious about tackling climate change, he must lead the EU nations into dropping EU biofuel targets based on the findings of the Gallagher review.
The real solution to reduce emissions from the transport sector is a low carbon transport strategy that improves vehicle efficiency and promotes vehicles powered by renewable electricity. I hope it doesn't take another review for the government to see the light on this too.
