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

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

A report by Chatham House, external states the growing dependence on sustainable liquid fuels will also increase food rates.

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

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

Since 2008, the UK has actually needed fuel suppliers to include a growing percentage of sustainable materials into the petrol 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 study carried out for Chatham House states that reaching the 5% level implies that UK motorists will need to pay an additional ₤ 460m a year due to the fact that of the higher expense of fuel at the pump and from filling up regularly as biofuels have a lower energy content.

The report say that if the UK is to meet its responsibilities to EU energy targets the cost to is likely to rise to ₤ 1.3 bn per annum by 2020.

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

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

The EU biofuel mandates are likewise having extremely distorting results in the marketplace. Because used cooking oil is considered one of the most sustainable types of biodiesel, the rate for it has risen quickly. Rob Bailey states that towards the end of 2012 it was more pricey than refined palm oil.

"It produces a monetary incentive to purchase refined palm oil, cook a chip in it to turn it into used cooking oil and then sell it at profit,"

"It is crazy however the rewards exist."

There are also worries that taking EU land out of production to grow rapeseed oil in particular is producing more environment problems than it solves. The more fuel of this type that is put into vehicles the bigger the deficit developed in the edible oils market. This had resulted in increased imports of palm oil from Indonesia, frequently produced on deforested land.

"Once you consider these indirect effects, biofuels made from veggie oils actually result worldwide in more emissions than you would get 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 illogical strategy."

Biofuel benefits

The European Biodiesel Board (EBB), which represents the market, external across the EU, stated it knew the problems triggered by the required. But it believes that biofuels have many positives.

"Blaming biofuels for all the troubles on the planet is a bit too overstated," stated Isabelle Maurizi, job supervisor at the EBB.

"It has brought lots of benefits. It has actually enhanced the security of our diesel; it has decreased EU dependency 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 faces some difficult choices on how to move on on this issue as it deals with tripling the expenses for vehicle drivers by 2020.

Insiders recommend its preference would be to try and get contract in Brussels on the effects of indirect expenses which may constrain what counts as biofuel. However getting arrangement from nations with effective farming sectors who take advantage of the existing arrangement will be difficult.

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

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