IRL: Biofuels targets should be scrapped, says Labour

The Labour Party has called on the Government to scrap its current biofuels targets over concerns about their impact on world food prices and the environment.

The party’s spokeswoman on energy Liz McManus said earlier today that the Government should move towards a more modest target where biofuels provide 4 per cent of all transport fuels by 2015.
This would replace the current Government targets of 5.75 per cent by 2010 and 10 per cent by 2020. The position paper was unveiled at a forum organised by the party on biofuels in Dublin today.

Ms McManus claimed that the Government and Minister for Energy Eamon Ryan have no coherent policy in relation to biofuels.

“The Irish Government can not tell us what percentage of biofuels that is imported. It can not tell us where biofuels are produced. We do not know the extent to which Ireland is contributing to increases in world food prices,” she said.

Irish Times