We knew the government's plans on biofuels were a bit of a mess, but figures released today by the Renewable Fuel Agency show just how bad the situation is.
First off, the agency reports that 80 per cent of biofuels used in the UK don't meet government sustainability targets. In fact several companies, including BP and Esso, admitted that they didn't produce a single litre of biofuel that met the government's qualifying environmental standard.
Secondly it reveals that 12 per cent of all biodiesel sold in the UK is made from palm oil. Demand for palm oil has grown in recent times (partly in response to skyrocketing oil prices), driving rainforest destruction across South East Asia as forests and peatland is cleared for new plantations. This destruction is releasing massive quantities of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, helping to make Indonesia the third largest emitter of greenhouse gases in the world. In February Science magazine reported that using palm oil grown in Indonesia to fuel vehicles is up to 420 times as damaging to the climate as the fossil fuels they replace.
So by putting cheaper crops like palm oil into our fuel tanks companies are actually contributing to climate change. Without safeguards in place, setting a compulsory minimum target for the percentage of biofuel in every litre of diesel (currently 2.5 per cent) is quite clearly a disaster for the world's forests and a major obstacle in the fight against climate change.
And all the petrol stations tested were well over the 2.5 per cent government target with biodiesel already accounting for almost five per cent of diesel used.
Results from a BP station in Northampton, for example, showed that it was selling diesel "consistent with a biofuel mix" of 4.8 per cent, of which 30 per cent was palm oil.
What can be done? Well, it's about time the Prime Minister stepped in and scrapped the biofuel targets, because without sustainability safeguards in place they are having exactly the opposite effect to that which was originally intended. And big players like BP need to urgently recognise the damage that is being done, and rather than exploiting confused biofuels laws to boost their profits, they should instead support a complete halt to the destruction of Indonesia's forests for palm oil.
