Motorists subsidising biofuels

New research commissioned by ActionAid and Friends of the Earth shows that motorists, the environment and poor people will be hit hard by biofuels in petrol - their new research shows car drivers in the UK will pay up to £2 billion more on the forecourt in 2020 if the government decides to increase the proportion of biofuels in petrol. A typical UK lorry driver will be spending as much as £1,400 extra per year on diesel by 2020.

The policy could also create an extra 13 million tonnes of carbon emissions every year in the UK, and more people in developing countries will go hungry and be pushed off their land as biofuel crops are grown instead of food.

Where on earth is the sense - this blog has covered this issue before and it is great that the campaign is still running to stop this madness. The EU target that the government aims to meet is based on the thought that biofuels are a greener alternative to fossil fuels. The reality is the opposite; biofuels increase greenhouse gases. The money planned to subsidise biofuels would be better spent on improving public transport and cycling.

Take action

Meanwhile on another biofuel matter E.On have submitted a planning application which, if approved, would allow them to generate 270 MW of electricity from burning imported virgin wood every year. At full capacity, they would burn pellets made from more than 2 million tonnes of wood annually. They want to partly convert Ironbridge coal power station to biomass. This large new demand for wood will translate into more aggressive logging abroad and, directly or indirectly, more forests and farmlands being turned into monoculture tree plantations. Take an action email at: http://www.biofuelwatch.org.uk/2012/ironbridgealert/