PP18: Bio-fuels

I have just come back from an interesting lecture on the environmental impact of bio-fuels (ha –listen to yourself). But no, it was – very interesting.

It confirmed all my suspicions. Bio-fuels are a complete and utter disaster. The EU jumped on the bandwagon because it wanted to be seen to be doing something and the US loves them so much because it is a source of fuel they can obtain without the need to invade anyone. Yet we have all blindly stumbled towards them as some sort of magical solution to all our environmental (and homeland security) problems. Unfortunately in our enthusiasm no one thought to check to see if they actually any good. And they’re not – not at all. In fact they are far, far worse than using fossil fuels as we currently do.

Let’s look at the options. With oil all we need do is pump it to the surface, ship it, distribute it and then burn it. With bio-fuels we need to cut down millions of acres of rainforest, cover the land with fertilisers, harvest it, ship it, distribute it – and then burn it! It is a complete red herring of an environmental policy and one that might cost us dearly. And this goes without mentioning the impact it has on global food prices. Hungry Africans now have to compete with hungry fuel tanks.

The professor giving the lecture did suggest that a handful of sources did indeed provide ‘better than fossil fuel’ outcomes. One of the best sources was from waste oil produced by industry. He was talking about the oil used in deep fat fryers in fast food chains up and down the country. That this oil can be burned to run vehicles is no secret and has been done on a limited scale for a while now.

So firstly Britain should opt out of the EU’s disastrous 10% bio-fuels target and instead provide tax incentives for companies to collect, process and distribute waste bio oil. We are talking about such low quantities that it can actually be mixed with normal fossil fuels and burnt in conventional engines with no problems. And that is exactly what should be done.