Portsmouth Climate Action Network

A review of the environmental and economic damage caused by growing biofuels was ordered by the UK government today.

Ministers say a number of new studies have emerged recently that question the environmental benefits of such fuels. The government wants to check that UK and European biofuel targets will not cause more problems than they solve.

But ministers nevertheless intend to press ahead with a plan to force oil suppliers to have biofuels constitute 2.5% of transport fuel from April.

Ruth Kelly, the transport secretary, said: "The UK government takes this issue very seriously. We are not prepared to go beyond current UK target levels for biofuels until we are satisfied it can be done sustainably. The review I am announcing today will ensure that the full economic and environmental impacts of biofuel production are taken into account in the formation of UK policy beyond 2010."

She added: "Future biofuel targets must also take into account the latest scientific evidence about the environmental effects of biofuel production. There has been much recent debate around the risks associated with overly rapid expansion of biofuel production, with evidence now emerging on the indirect, or 'displacement' impacts, of growing demand for agricultural production around the world."

The study will be carried out by the new Renewable Fuels Agency. It will report in early summer.

Environment campaigners welcomed the move, but said no biofuels should be used in the UK until the review was completed. John Sauven, executive director of Greenpeace UK, said: "The scientific evidence is mounting: biofuels are often more damaging to the climate than the fossil fuels they are designed to replace.

"While it's good news that the government has commissioned a report to assess the consequences of these fuels, the fact remains that from April this year we'll be forced to pump biofuels into our petrol tanks. The government needs to introduce a moratorium on the UK's biofuel targets until this review has been published."

Dr Sue Armstrong Brown, the head of countryside conservation at the RSPB, said: "This review is a welcome small step forward, but one that sidesteps the complete inadequacy of government policy on biofuels.

"The renewable fuel obligation could still mean forecourts selling biofuels, whose production comes at the expense of wildlife. It could still leave motorists buying biofuel that has contributed to climate change because emissions from biofuel production could be higher.

"Fuel companies will have to report back on their production methods but there will be no legal obligation to produce biofuels sustainably and no sanctions if they do not."

Oxfam's policy adviser, Rob Bailey, said: "We welcome this much needed reality check because biofuels could have significantly negative social and environmental consequences. However, the UK should also delay setting its
domestic biofuels targets in April until the report's findings become clear.

"With mounting scientific evidence that biofuels may contribute to carbon emissions and increasing cases of land grabs and human rights abuses, it is imperative that other member states similarly pause for thought before recklessly ploughing ahead with biofuels targets."

Kenneth Richter, Friends of the Earth's biofuels campaigner, said: "Ruth Kelly is right to raise concerns about biofuels and launch this review. Friends of the Earth hopes that the government will now put the Renewable Transport Fuels Obligation on hold and demand a moratorium on EU biofuel targets.

"The real solution to Europe's rising transport emissions is better public transport, more provision for cyclists and higher standards for fuel efficiency in new cars."

Biofuels, made from crops such as corn and sugar, are promoted as environmentally friendly because the carbon they emit when burnt was absorbed by the plants when they grew.

But recent research has shown that growing and processing some crops in certain countries can release more greenhouse gas than they save. Biofuel production can also cause more indirect environmental effects. For example, farmers squeezed off land to be used for biofuels may then grow crops on cleared forests.

Last update : 17-03-2008 07:29

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