Nuffield report dubs biofuel policy unethical

Palm oil is used in Scottish produced food

Edinburgh Professor Joyce Tait chaired the just published report from the Nuffield Council on Bioethics.

The  EU Renewable Energy Directive sets a target of 10% of transport fuel from biofuels by 2020.  Currently, UK biofuels are estimated to account for 3% of UK road fuels. 

The problem is that biofuels are often heavily subsidised and grown at the expense of food crops, driving up the cost of food - often for the world's poorest (as reported in this blog post last month).

The report, which has called the biofuels policies unethical, can be accessed here.

From the press release announcing the report:

The two main transport biofuels currently in use are bioethanol, made from maize and sugar cane, and biodiesel, made from palm and rape seed oil. The European Renewable Energy Directive states that 10% of transport fuel must come from renewable sources by 2020. In the UK, 5% of transport fuel must come from renewable sources by 2013. To meet these targets, biofuels are being imported from countries that do not all have responsible or enforceable policies on climate change or human rights. The targets also rely on voluntary agreements on environmental sustainability for biofuels produced outside the EU.

 Ethical behaviour is another casualty of the rush to honour the global warming god.