UK Enviro minister, no increases in biofuels targets “until we are satisfied it can be done sustainably”

In England, the UK Renewable Fuels Agency will produce a study on the economic and environmental impacts, including indirect impacts, of biofuels. The study will be used by the Environment Ministry to help determine UK and EU’s policies, and EU biofuel targets after 2010.

Environment Minister Ruth Kelly said that “Biofuels have the potential to help reduce the impact of transport on the environment, provided they are sustainable. 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 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.”

In reaction to articles published last week in Science magazine, the UK government had ordered the revised analysis review on biofuels, but reconfirmed a biofuels target of 2.5% of transportation fuel by April, rising to 5% by 2010.

Meanwhile, Greenpeace called on the government to suspend biofuels targets. 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.” Oil Voice published the Greenpeace call.

In London at International Petroleum Week, Jos Dings, director of the European Federation for Transport and Environment, said quantity targets for biofuels should be dropped in favor of a low-carbon standard, which gives incentives to companies to invest in high-performance, advanced biofuels. Peter New, president of global biofuels at BP noted that the European 2020 target was equivalent to building a 300 million gal plant every week.

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