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Policies on bioenergy: UK lacks ‘objective’
18/Sep/2006: With many European nations forging ahead with their plans to replace conventional fuels like petrol and diesel with biofuels like ethanol, British MPs feel that their country lacks objective and clarity on its policies towards bioenergy, produced from plants and other natural materials.
The Commons Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee (Efracom) said that UK is lagging behind other European countries in this area and urged the government to promote biofuels for heating homes and aviation. The committee also asked the government to extend their target for usage of biofuels in road transport from the current target of 5%, announced last year in response to a European directive. The committee also warned that a wide adoption of currently available biofuels could have serious impact on the wild life.
Michael Jack MP, chairman of Efracom, wants the government to show more commitment and enthusiasm in developing its bioenergy policies, as it is not acceptable for UK to lag behind other European nations in this area, since it prides itself on its internal leadership role on the climate change agenda. According to a figure released by Efracom, the combined production of biofuel in Germany and France is 100 times more than that in Britain.
Biofuels are produced from crops and other natural material and is considered to be the best alternative to fossil fuels in road transport. Adoption of biofuel as an alternative to petrol and diesel could reduce greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, as much of the carbon dioxide released by burning biofuels is absorbed back by the crops that produce biofuel, during their growth. However, Efracom feels that the land for growing biofuel crops could get scarce soon, hampering the efforts of the government in moving beyond the existing 5% target for road transport.
Kesavan Siva
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