Smile that spells biofuel

Andrew Watts, 47, who manages a 2,570-acre farm at Wat-ton-at-Stone in Hertfordshire, is already convinced. During his 25 years as a farm manager, Watts has been tempted to quit farming on more than one occasion, but rising cereal prices and the prospect of a biofuel boom have given him a renewed sense of purpose.

“For the first time in many years there is a degree of optimism in farming and we are enjoying much brighter prospects. More importantly we feel wanted again. The talk is no longer about grain mountains and how we are producing things that no-one wants. Now there is a new and added market for our product,” he said.
“It’s fair to say the foreseeable future looks very healthy for arable farmers,” said Martin Redfearn, national agricultural specialist for Barclays Bank.

Biofuels are big in Brazil and Malaysia, but in Britain they are still a cottage industry. There are only a handful of cars, such as the Saab BioPower hybrid or Ford Focus Flex Fuel, that are purpose-built to use high biofuel blends and the number of dedicated biofuel petrol pumps is limited. They are mainly in Norfolk and Suffolk. Worse still, biofuel costs more than conventional fuel, a factor guaranteed to turn off customers.

Unsurprisingly, the number of biodiesel plants in Britain is limited to a handful, mainly on the northeast coast, and the first bioethanol plant does not even open until this autumn.

But next April the British biofuel industry will benefit from a big leg-up from legislation that will force fuel companies to blend petrol and diesel with biofuels. The renewable transport-fuel obligation forces oil companies to blend diesel and petrol with a minimum of 2.5% biodiesel or bioethanol by 2008-9, rising to 5% in 2010-11. The EU has set a 10% target by 2020. If fuel companies do not comply they face financial penalties.

The legislation will generate increased demand for biofuels and the National Farmers’ Union is encouraging members to cash in on the opportunity.

Times