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Publications - UK
Environment, Food and Rural Affairs - Seventeenth Report, Biofuels
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Crops for Liquid Biofuels and Biogas
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Solid Biofuels
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the report
This is a UK Parliamentary Report considering the present situation as regards the Government's
approach to the development of energy crops as well as solid and liquid biofuels. It has been
produced by the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee that is appointed by the
House of Commons to examine the expenditure, administration, and policy of the Department for
Environment, Food and Rural Affairs and its associated bodies.
The report summary is as follows. The full report can be obtained from the website.
- The use of biofuels to replace conventional fossil fuels in transport can help reduce greenhouse
gas emissions. Biofuels are the only source of renewable power currently suitable for road transport
and as such have an important role in reducing the environmental impact of this sector of the economy.
However, the debate about the need for Government support for domestic biofuels production has
been going on for some time with few concrete conclusions. The Government's biofuels policy, to
the extent that it has one, appears muddled and unfocussed.
- Different Government departments disagree about the main reason for increasing use
of biofuels and about what level of Government support is necessary. The Treasury says that
Government support for biofuels reflects the environmental advantages they offer over
conventional fuels and that the current 20 pence duty derogation is sufficient. Defra places
greater emphasis on the contribution a domestic biofuels industry could make to farm incomes
and rural development and says that 20 pence is not enough to stimulate production.
- The Government has expressed support for biofuels in its Energy White Paper and
the European Union has adopted a directive promoting the use of biofuels. So far, though,
Government support for biofuels production has had little effect. Until it is clear what the
primary aim of the Government's biofuels policy is, it is difficult to judge how effective are
the instruments by which it intends to achieve that policy.
- The current level of duty derogation of 20 pence per litre for biodiesel has not been
enough to stimulate the development of domestic production. However, if the Government wishes
to increase domestic production of biofuels, increasing the duty derogation may be ineffective as
to do so may simply encourage the import of biofuels produced elsewhere. It is not clear why the
Government chose the level of duty derogation that it did.
- It is difficult to determine the extent to which biofuels can contribute more widely to
sustainable development. The crops from which biofuels are made can bring both benefits and
costs to biodiversity here and abroad. Careful planning is needed to maximise the gains and minimise
the losses if these crops are grown more widely.
- Defra, as the Department with overall responsibility for sustainable development, needs to
clarify the goals of the Government's biofuels policy. Only then can the benefits and costs of the various
options open to it be accurately weighed up.
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