Questions raised around sustainability of biofuels

Concerns are being raised about the real cost and sustainability of biofuels. UK-based ActionAid claims that biofuels will cost British road users up to £224 million more each year than the government has estimated. The poor in developing countries will also be paying a high price, it says. UK government plans to increase the proportion of biofuels in UK petrol to meet the European Union’s renewable energy target is not only contributing to land grabs and global hunger, but is also costing motorists more than the government had previously stated, according to research. “UK motorists are paying even more than previously thought for their petrol because of a misguided biofuels policy which at the same time contributes to global hunger,” says Anders Dahlbeck, ActionAid’s biofuels policy adviser. “While one in eight globally goes hungry, agricultural land is being diverted away from food production to produce biofuels around the world, including in this country. In the UK, we already use enough food as fuel annually to feed around 10 million people for a year.” In sub-Saharan African six million hectares of land are now under the control of European companies seeking to make money from Europe’s biofuel policies. Of the European companies that have invested in biofuels in Sub- Saharan Africa, 30 are from the UK. The EU’s renewable energy target promotes biofuels as a greener alternative to fossil fuels. South Africa has similar policies, with biofuels plants planned for both the Coega and East London Industrial Development Zones.