On biofuels, we have to make a moral choice

It is almost 20 years since we should have started doing something about climate change. Instead, humanity has spent that time creating a monumental work of denial and procrastination. We have employed cod science, elaborated blame strategies, and generally messed around. Now, we are approaching the cliff edge.

Against this backdrop, the EU’s package of climate and energy measures, agreed in principle last year, was a welcome sign we are at last moving from words to action. Even if the level of ambition is still inadequate, some parts of the plan have real bite – including a 20% target for renewable energy use, which could be the biggest move we have ever made towards a low-carbon economy.


But we are too often at the mercy of quack doctors peddling ineffective medicines with grim side effects. One element of the EU package – the aggressive promotion of liquid biofuel use in cars – falls squarely into this category.

Using plant materials to supply our energy needs is, in theory, a perfectly sensible idea – if it can be done in ways that maximise energy efficiency and minimise waste across existing production cycles – and we should be working out how to do this as quickly as we can.

But requiring 10% of the EU’s transport fuel to come from biofuels in the next decade will not help. It will increase demand for conventional crops, push up food prices, and drive production into forests and grasslands, destroying precious wildlife and releasing stored carbon into the atmosphere.

Guardian