Biofuels may not deliver CO2 cuts, scientists warn
21st January 2008
Biofuels have a limited ability to replace fossil fuels and should not be regarded as a “silver bullet” solution to reducing transport emissions, British scientists warned today.
The report, Sustainable biofuels: prospects and challenges, from the Royal Society, found that climate change mitigation, energy security, rising oil prices and economic objectives are encouraging “strong interest” in the development of biofuels for the transport sector.
Biofuels - derived from food crops including corn, sugar cane, palm oil and oilseed rape - are one of the few technologies with the potential to displace oil as a fuel for transport and are seen as a way to cut greenhouse gas emissions and boost energy security.
But the report warned that biofuels risk failing to deliver significant reductions in transport emissions and could even be environmentally damaging unless the government implements the right policies.
It said directives such as the UK’s Renewable Transport Fuel Obligation (RTFO), the UK’s implementation of the EU biofuels directive which comes into force in April 2008, does not necessarily encourage the use of the types of biofuels with the best greenhouse gas savings.
