FLY BIOFUELS, DON’T DRIVE THEM

Planes 'should fly on biofuels'

"Biofuel research should focus on planes and not cars, the think tank Policy Exchange has said…A crop area the size of the USA would be needed to biofuel all the world's cars and alternatives, such as electricity, exist for them…Instead, it said the EU should fund research into using plant-based fuel for aviation to help cut emissions.

"Sceptics say some biofuels create more carbon than they save and push up the price of food for the poor…Most biofuels are derived from crops such as corn, sugarcane and rapeseed…Bioethanol is usually mixed with petrol, while biodiesel is either used on its own or in a mixture… 25% of greenhouse gas emissions come from transport."

click to enlarge

"In April 2008, [the UK government] revised its target from 5% [required biofuels to 2.5%]…The EU also changed its stipulation [from 10%] of transport fuel…instead saying the targets could be met by any renewable source, including fuel cells, hydrogen or solar power.

"Policy Exchange has previously said the government should spend its £550m annual biofuel subsidies on halting the destruction of rainforests and peatland…Now the centre-right think tank says the EU should switch policy to subsidising development of biofuels for aviation because planes cannot run on other sources of energy."

click to enlarge

"Airlines including Virgin Atlantic have trialled flights using up to 20% biofuel to power the engines…Policy Exchange claims using biofuels is the only way in the foreseeable future to meet people's desire to travel without escalating emissions of greenhouse gases. Airlines should be mandated to blend biofuel with kerosene in increasing quantities from 2020…By this time new generation crop-based fuels should have been developed which do not compete with food crops.

"Green groups have been critical of the destruction of rainforest to create the fuels and the resultant loss of habitat for rare species…They also say that with more farmland being turned over to grow profitable biofuels, food production has fallen and pushed up global prices, affecting supplies for the poorest people…"