Something About Nothing

The European Union is having second thoughts about its policy aimed at stimulating the production of biofuel – transport fuel derived from crops and other vegetation or organic waste. Stavros Dimas, the EU environment commissioner, admitted yesterday that the EU did not foresee the scale of the problems raised by Europe’s target of deriving 10 per cent of its transport fuel from plant material. The rush to produce biofuels is reported to have increased the cost of food on the global market, destroyed tracts of rainforest in tropical countries and to have had little overall impact on reducing greenhouse gases.

“We have seen that the environmental problems caused by biofuels and also the social problems are bigger than we thought they were. So we have to move very carefully,” Mr Dimas told the BBC. Yesterday also saw the publication of a report on biofuel by the Royal Society in London which had asked a committee of experts to examine the complex issues surrounding the technology. The report concluded that there is no simple answer to whether biofuels are good or bad for the environment, and that each type of biofuel – and how it is produced – has to be considered on its own merits.

source: Independent

The UK must increase by sevenfold the proportion of its energy coming from renewables to meet European commission targets on carbon emissions outlined in Brussels today.

The commission confirmed the goal of cutting 20% from Europe’s carbon emissions by 2020 compared with 1990 levels, and generating one-fifth of the EU’s power from renewable sources by that time.

As its contribution, Britain must get 15% of its energy for heat, electricity and transport from renewables such as wind, wave, tidal, solar and biomass.

Only 2% of the UK’s energy is renewable - the lowest percentage of any major European country.

Britain must cut greenhouse gas emissions by 16%, and get 10% of road transport fuel from biofuels, subject to them being produced in a sustainable way

source: Guardian