Biofuels: 'Irrational' and 'worse than nonrenewable fuel sources'

The UK's "illogical" usage 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 dependence on sustainable liquid fuels will also 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 comprise 5% of the UK's transportation fuel from today.

Since 2008, the UK has actually needed fuel suppliers to add a growing proportion of sustainable products into the fuel and diesel they provide. These biofuels are mainly 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 means that UK motorists will have to pay an extra ₤ 460m a year due to the fact that of the greater expense of fuel at the pump and from filling up more frequently as biofuels have a lower energy content.

The report state that if the UK is to satisfy its responsibilities to EU energy targets the cost to vehicle drivers is most likely to increase to ₤ 1.3 bn per year 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 way to minimize carbon emissions," he said.

The EU biofuel requireds are likewise having extremely distorting results in the market. Because utilized cooking oil is considered as among the most sustainable kinds of biodiesel, the price for it has actually increased rapidly. Rob Bailey says that towards completion of 2012 it was more costly than refined palm oil.

"It creates a monetary reward to purchase refined palm oil, cook a chip in it to turn it into used cooking oil and then offer it at revenue,"

"It is insane however the incentives are there."

There are also worries that taking EU land out of production to grow rapeseed oil in particular is creating more environment issues than it fixes. The more fuel of this type that is put into automobiles the larger the deficit produced in the edible oils market. This had resulted in increased imports of palm oil from Indonesia, typically produced on deforested land.

"Once you take into consideration these indirect effects, biofuels made from veggie oils really result worldwide in more emissions than you would receive from using diesel in the very first place," said Rob Bailey.

"Plus you are asking drivers to pay more for the fuel - it makes no sense, it is a totally illogical method."

Biofuel advantages

The European Biodiesel Board (EBB), which represents the market, external throughout the EU, said it understood the issues brought on by the mandate. But it believes that biofuels have lots of positives.

"Blaming biofuels for all the difficulties in the world is a bit too overstated," said Isabelle Maurizi, task supervisor at the EBB.

"It has actually brought great deals of advantages. It has improved the security of our diesel