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

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

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

The author states that biodiesel made from vegetable oil was even worse for the climate 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 required fuel suppliers to include a growing percentage of sustainable materials into the petrol and diesel they provide. These biofuels are primarily ethanol distilled from corn and biodiesel made from rapeseed, used cooking oil and tallow.

Deep fried fuel

But research carried out for Chatham House states that reaching the 5% level implies that UK motorists will have to pay an additional ₤ 460m a year since of the greater cost of fuel at the pump and from filling up more often as biofuels have a content.

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

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

"Biofuels increase expenses and they are an extremely pricey method to decrease carbon emissions," he said.

The EU biofuel requireds are likewise having hugely distorting results in the market. Because used cooking oil is regarded as one of the most sustainable types of biodiesel, the price for it has increased rapidly. Rob Bailey states that towards the end of 2012 it was more pricey than refined palm oil.

"It develops a financial reward to purchase refined palm oil, cook a chip in it to turn it into utilized cooking oil and after that sell it at earnings,"

"It is crazy but the rewards exist."

There are likewise stresses that taking EU land out of production to grow rapeseed oil in particular is producing more environment problems than it resolves. The more fuel of this type that is put into cars and trucks the bigger the deficit produced in the edible oils market. This had caused increased imports of palm oil from Indonesia, frequently produced on deforested land.

"Once you take into consideration these indirect impacts, biofuels made from vegetable oils in fact 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 an entirely illogical strategy."

Biofuel advantages

The European Biodiesel Board (EBB), which represents the market, external across the EU, said it understood the issues triggered by the mandate. But it believes that biofuels have many positives.

"Blaming biofuels for all the difficulties on the planet is a bit too overstated," stated Isabelle Maurizi, task manager at the EBB.

"It has actually brought lots of benefits. It has actually improved the security of our diesel