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

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

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

The author states that biodiesel made from grease was worse for the environment 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 needed fuel providers to add a growing proportion of sustainable products into the fuel and diesel they provide. These biofuels are generally ethanol distilled from corn and biodiesel made from rapeseed, utilized cooking oil and tallow.

Deep fried fuel

But research brought out for Chatham House says that reaching the 5% level suggests that UK motorists will have to pay an additional ₤ 460m a year because of the higher cost of fuel at the pump and from filling more frequently as biofuels have a lower energy content.

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

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

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

The EU biofuel mandates are also having extremely distorting results in the marketplace. Because used cooking oil is considered among the most sustainable types of biodiesel, the price for it has risen rapidly. Rob Bailey states that towards the end 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 then offer it at profit,"

"It is insane but the rewards are there."

There are also frets that taking EU land out of production to grow rapeseed oil in particular is creating more climate problems than it fixes. The more fuel of this type that is taken into cars the larger the deficit created in the edible oils market. This had actually caused increased imports of palm oil from Indonesia, typically produced on deforested land.

"Once you take into account these indirect impacts, biofuels made from veggie oils really result worldwide in more emissions than you would obtain from utilizing diesel in the very first location," stated Rob Bailey.

"Plus you are asking motorists to pay more for the fuel - it makes no sense, it is an entirely illogical technique."

Biofuel benefits

The European Biodiesel Board (EBB), which represents the industry, external across the EU, stated it understood the problems brought on by the required. But it believes that biofuels have many positives.

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

"It has actually brought great deals of advantages. It has enhanced the security of our diesel; it has 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 federal government deals with some tough decisions on how to progress on this problem as it faces tripling the costs for motorists by 2020.

Insiders recommend its choice would be to attempt and get arrangement in Brussels on the effects of indirect costs which may constrain what counts as biofuel. However getting contract from nations with powerful agricultural sectors who take advantage of the present plan will be difficult.

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

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