Biofuels: 'Irrational' and 'even worse than fossil fuels'
The UK's "irrational" usage of biofuels will cost motorists around ₤ 460 million over the next 12 months, a think tank says.

A report by Chatham House, external says the growing dependence on sustainable liquid fuels will likewise increase food costs.
The author says that biodiesel made from grease was worse for the environment than nonrenewable fuel sources.
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 suppliers to add a growing percentage of sustainable materials into the gas and diesel they provide. These biofuels are generally ethanol distilled from corn and biodiesel made from rapeseed, used cooking oil and tallow.
Deep fried fuel
But research study performed for Chatham House states that reaching the 5% level implies that UK motorists will have to pay an additional ₤ 460m a year because of the greater expense of fuel at the pump and from filling regularly as biofuels have a lower energy content.
The report state that if the UK is to fulfill its obligations to EU energy targets the expense to motorists is likely to rise to ₤ 1.3 bn per year by 2020.
"It is tough to find any good news," Rob Bailey, senior research study fellow at Chatham House, informed BBC News.
"Biofuels increase expenses and they are a very pricey method to decrease carbon emissions," he said.
The EU biofuel requireds are likewise having extremely distorting effects in the marketplace. Because utilized cooking oil is considered one of the most sustainable types of biodiesel, the price for it has actually risen quickly. Rob Bailey says that towards completion of 2012 it was more costly than refined palm oil.
"It creates a financial reward to buy refined palm oil, cook a chip in it to turn it into used cooking oil and after that offer it at profit,"
"It is insane however the rewards exist."
There are also stresses that taking EU land out of production to grow rapeseed oil in particular is developing 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 caused increased imports of palm oil from Indonesia, frequently produced on deforested land.
"Once you take into account these indirect results, biofuels made from vegetable oils actually result worldwide in more emissions than you would get from using diesel in the very first location," said Rob Bailey.
"Plus you are asking vehicle drivers to pay more for the fuel - it makes no sense, it is a totally irrational technique."
Biofuel benefits
The European Biodiesel Board (EBB), which represents the industry, external throughout the EU, stated it was aware of the issues caused by the mandate. But it thinks that biofuels have lots of positives.
"Blaming biofuels for all the difficulties on the planet is a bit too overstated," said Isabelle Maurizi, task supervisor at the EBB.
"It has actually brought lots of benefits. It has improved the security of our diesel; it has minimized EU dependence 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 hits the 5% of liquid fuels mark, the government faces some difficult choices on how to move on on this problem as it deals with tripling the costs for motorists by 2020.
Insiders suggest its preference would be to try and get arrangement in Brussels on the impacts of indirect costs which might constrain what counts as biofuel. However getting contract from countries with effective farming sectors who take advantage of the current plan will be hard.
"When you have a lobby that includes the agricultural sector and the oil sector it is extremely tough for Governments to make a U-turn," said Rob Bailey.
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