Bio-fuels

Bio-fuels, produced from plants, are being promoted as a way to combat climate change.  Some bio-fuels, such as those produced from waste, undoubtedly have a role to play, but current EU, US & UK policies are driving a boom in the production of bio-fuels from totally unsustainable sources. This boom is doing immense harm and both the DEFRA Parliamentary Select Committee and the Environment Audit Committee have expressed concern in a recent reports.

Current policies are:

A major driving force behind the boom in bio-fuel production from unsustainable sources is the targets being set by both the EU and by the UK Government, to replace increasing proportions of petrol and diesel with bio-fuel alternatives. There is little restriction on how these targets are met, so the fuels being used are overwhelmingly being produced from crops, either at the expense of food production, or by clearing virgin land.  

In 2007 Leicester FoE promoted a petition on the Government's e-petition website calling for changes in Government policy.  The petition had reached the position of 12th out of over 600 environmental petitions by the time that it closed with 884 signatures.  We also lobbied the City Council to urge them to stop using a proportion of bio-fuel in their vehicles, unless they can obtain it from truly sustainable sources.  We have been helped in our campaigning by Abigail, the Leicester FoE orang-utan (see photo above).  A letter from Abigail to the people of Leicester can be viewed here.  Our campaigning on this subject has even gone multiverse, with an item in the October 2007 edition of Discworld Monthly.

In March 2008 we were given an award by the Leicester Environment Partnership for this campaign.  Abigail herself attended the award ceremony to receive the award.  Latter that year we were also involved in the EU wide campaign to stop the EU from imposing biofuel targets on national Governments and to try to block implementation of phase one of the implementation of the Renewable Transport Fuel Obligation in the UK, legislation requiring vehicle fuel to contain a proportion of biofuel.  

At the EU level, we were successful in getting the proposals watered down and in getting some greater safeguards introduced; however, we were unsuccessful in getting the proposals withdrawn completely.  We were also unsuccessful in blocking the introduction of phase 1 of the RTFO; however this fight will be resumed when implementation of phase 2 comes before Parliament.

What we are now fighting over is the Renewable Energy Action Plan, which the UK Government is due to submit to the EU in June 2010.  The Plan currently envisages a fourfold increase in the UK's use of biofuels, very little of which will come from truely sustainable sources.  We were lobbying MPs to sign an Early Day motion, EDM 828, but this has now been superceded by the calling of an election, so why not e-mail all your General Election candidates instead, calling on them to oppose any inclsion of biofuels in the plan, if they are elected.  There is a facility for finding and e-mailing them on the national FoE website.  

You can find further coverage of the biofuel issue on the national FoE website and on the Biofuel Watch website.  In addition our archive.contains copies of our press releases and other campaign materials; and links to more articles that there was no room left for on this page

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