Summary
This Report
‘Are
Biofuels Sustainable?’ (HC 76) from the House of Commons Environmental
Audit Committee examines the role of biofuels in the fight to reduce greenhouse
gas emissions.
Biofuels can reduce greenhouse gas emissions from
road transport but most first generation biofuels have a detrimental impact on
the environment overall. In addition, most biofuels are often not an effective
use of bioenergy resources, in terms either of cutting greenhouse gas emissions
or value-for-money.
The Committee suggests that the Government must
ensure that its biofuels policy balances greenhouse gas emission cuts with
wider environmental impacts so that biofuels are only used where they
contribute to sustainable emissions reductions.
The Government and EU's
neglect of biomass and other more effective policies to reduce emissions in
favour of biofuels is misguided, the Committee finds. The current policy and
support framework must be changed to ensure that sustainable bioenergy
resources maximise their potential to generate energy for the lowest possible
greenhouse gas emissions. In general, biofuels produced from conventional crops
should no longer receive support from the Government.
Instead, the
Report states, the Government should concentrate on the development of more
efficient biofuel technologies that might have a sustainable role in the
future. The Government should seek to ensure that EU policy changes to reflect
the concerns raised in this report. This means implementing a moratorium on
current targets until technology improves, robust mechanisms to prevent
damaging land use change are developed, and international sustainability
standards are agreed. Only then might biofuels have a role to play.
In
the meantime, other more effective ways of cutting emissions from road
transport should be pursued. The Committee states that it will take
considerable courage for the Government and EU to admit that the current policy
arrangements for biofuels are inappropriate. The policy realignments that are
required will be a test of the Government's commitment to moving the UK towards
a sustainable low carbon economy.
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