Biofuel research should focus on planes and not cars, says British think tank Policy Exchange.
(Source: BBC)
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, it added.
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.
The UK government, which is funding a £27m research centre to find economically viable alternatives to fossil fuels, says 25% of greenhouse gas emissions come from transport.
The EU also changed its stipulation that 10% of transport fuel had to be from crop-based 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, which remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.
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.
Airlines including Virgin Atlantic have trialled flights using up to 20% biofuel to power the engines, although climate change campaigners say use of the fuel is not sustainable.
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, it believes.
Click here to read the entire article.
