UK Prime Minister sounds retreat on Biofuels
23 April 2008
IT WAS seen as a radical
solution to tackle climate change by reducing harmful gases from car
exhausts, while sheltering motorists from soaring petrol prices.
But
now questions about the wider environmental damage caused by converting
farmers' fields to grow crops for biofuels have prompted a major
government rethink.
Gordon Brown, the Prime Minister, said yesterday that the UK would reconsider how far it was prepared to sign up to proposals for a tenfold
increase in the use of biofuels by 2020, in response to fears this was
causing a "world crisis" in the cost of food.
The doubling in
price of rice and wheat has sparked riots in Egypt and Haiti, and led
to a World Bank warning that 100 million people could be pushed deeper
into poverty. And it emerged yesterday that price surges have seen
grocery bills in the UK rise by around £15 a week in a year.
Since
Tuesday of last week, 2.5 per cent of the petrol and diesel sold at the
pumps in Britain has been bioethanol or biodiesel. Under European Union
targets, this is due to increase to 5 per cent by 2010, and 10 per cent
by 2020.
The UK's 5 per cent target is only half that on the
Continent - and now Mr Brown has bowed to new scientific fears that
biofuels may be doing more harm than good.
Total biofuel
consumption in the UK is likely to be about 1.2 billion litres this
year and 2.5 billion litres in 2010. Five years ago, it was only 19
million litres.
Yesterday, ahead of a Downing Street summit on
the world food crisis, the Prime Minister said: "Now we know that
biofuels, intended to promote energy independence and combat climate
change, are frequently energy inefficient.
"We need to look
closely at the impact on food prices and the environment of different
production methods and to ensure we are more selective in our support.
"If the UK review shows that we need to change our approach, we will also push for change in EU biofuels targets."
Campaigners
welcomed Mr Brown's prioritisation on feeding the world's hungry and
recognising the environmental damage done in claiming virgin land for
crop growth.
But enthusiasts for biofuels, such as the National
Farmers' Union, say UK regulations mean all crops that are grown for
fuel, such as oilseed rape, are sustainable - and have the added
benefit of also being used as animal feed.
The government position will become clearer in June when a review will outline the "indirect effects" of biofuels.
But
Friends of the Earth urged the Prime Minister to be bold and abandon
the EU targets. Vicky Hird, its food campaigner, said: "Gordon Brown is
right to be concerned about the impact of biofuels on food prices and
the environment. Evidence is growing that they cause more harm than
good. Food production must be revolutionised to prevent a global
catastrophe.
"We must stop putting the profits of agri-business ahead of the welfare of millions of poor people around the world."
Norman
Baker, the Liberal Democrats' transport spokesman, told The Scotsman:
"It's quite clear the government has realised there is a problem.
"Biofuel
isn't the answer. Biofuel, at best, was only ever a bridge. The answer,
ultimately, is electric vehicles with renewable energy generation.
"Biofuels
are displacing food production and, in some cases, the carbon
consequences of biofuels are no better than the substances that they
are replacing."
Garry Staunton, technology director at the
Carbon Trust, said: "It's wrong at many levels to say we ought to grow
crops to drive our cars, rather than to feed people. But for many years
now, the planet has produced more food than it has consumed. Turning
that surplus into fuel can now be achieved.
"But we are moving from converting surplus food into fuel, into a situation where there is direct competition."
Phil
Bloomer, Oxfam's policy and campaigns director, said: "Setting
mandatory targets for biofuels before we are aware of their full impact
is madness. Not only are biofuels pushing up food prices, but they are
also linked to human-rights abuses."
A Department for Transport
spokeswoman said: "What the Prime Minister said wasn't about putting
the brakes on biofuels. It was about making sure the biofuels we
support in the UK are truly sustainable."
Global crisis sees staples rise by up to 130%
THE world food crisis has plunged dozens of countries into starvation and sparked riots across the globe.
The
price of wheat has risen by 130 per cent in a year, and rice has shot
up by 74 per cent. Millions of the world's poorest people are now
facing starvation.
Gordon Brown, the Prime Minister, yesterday
called for international action. Writing on the Downing Street website,
he said: "The World Health Organisation views hunger as the No 1 threat
to public health across the world, responsible for a third of child
deaths. Tackling hunger is a moral challenge to each of us."
The
UK government is to provide £30 million to help the 840 million people
estimated to be suffering chronic hunger, while the UN Food and
Agriculture Organisation says the food crisis has hit 36 countries.
Earlier this month, the World Bank announced emergency measures, including a doubling of loans to African farmers.
Economic
growth has created a desire for more meat in China and India, so more
corn is needed to feed livestock - again forcing the price up.
Meanwhile, the soaring cost of oil has increased the price of food
processing and transport. Added to this, climate change is resulting in
floods and droughts that are destroying harvests. Last year, Australia
suffered its worst drought for over a century.
Downing Street is
hosting a meeting today involving scientists, supermarkets, farmers and
aid agencies. Their aim is to come up with a plan that can be presented
to the EU, G8 and UN.
Why the rush? Politics takes precedence as usual
A
DESIRE to end dependence on dwindling stocks of oil from conflict zones
has sparked the rush towards biofuels as much as environmental motives,
according to experts.
Two years ago, George Bush, the US
president, gave a State of the Union speech that declared the United
States was "addicted to oil". He called for 75 per cent of imported oil
to be replaced by 2025 by alternative sources of energy, including
biofuels.
Professor Chris Rhodes, an environmental consultant,
thinks Mr Bush was motivated by a desire to end the US's dependence on
oil stocks from countries in the Middle East and other unstable areas.
Biofuels offered a way to sever the dependency and at the same time be seen to tackle climate change.
"However, if you grow crops for biofuel on land for food, you run out
of land," Prof Rhodes said. "There's only so much arable land
available."
Anthony Day, an author and climate-change expert,
agrees and believes that in their rush towards biofuels, governments
did not consider the consequences.
Struan Stevenson, the North
East Scotland MEP, said: "It's clear now that the race towards biofuels
has led to vast areas of rain forest being burned.
"We are destroying the air-conditioning system of the world."
Jenny Haworth
UK shopping bills up by £800 in just a year
FOOD
bills for the average family in Britain have risen by £800 in a year,
as the highest rate of food inflation for a generation drives up
supermarket prices, it emerged yesterday.
A basket of 24 common
items such as teabags and pasta sauce costs 15 per cent more than it
did 12 months ago, according to a survey.
The supermarket price
survey found that six pints of semi-skimmed milk are now 28p dearer - a
rise from £1.68 to £1.96 - at Tesco, Asda and Sainsbury's.
The cost of a thick white loaf has gone up by more than 20 per cent, from 54p to 65p, at both Tesco and Asda.
Customers
are paying nearly 50 per cent more for a dozen medium free-range eggs
at the top three supermarkets, according to MySupermarket.co.uk - from
£1.75 to £2.58.
A packet of fusilli pasta at all three has nearly doubled from 37p to 67p, the survey found.
Also in the basket of goods were cheese, potatoes, bolognese sauce and cornflakes.
The
figures show inflation is costing a family spending around £100 a week
on groceries an extra £15 a week, or £780 more over a year, reports
said.
Demand for basic agricultural goods has led to huge
increases in global grain prices in recent months. Those costs then
pass on down the "food chain" to meat and dairy products as farmers pay
more to feed livestock.
Johnny Stern, managing director of
MySupermarket.co.uk, said: "The conclusion is that supermarkets are
passing on a sizeable amount of the increased costs. The average
customer cares about the products they need to put in their basket
every week that they don't have any choice about."
John Bason,
finance director of Associated British Foods, one of Britain's biggest
food producers, said that wheat prices had doubled in a year and
supermarkets would have to raise the price of bread again.
The
figures are likely to increase pressure on the ministers over the
government's official inflation level. Critics say that it fails to
reflect the pain felt by shoppers.
Consumers are also being hit by rises in world oil prices. On Wall Street yesterday, crude prices hit record highs.
Higher
food and fuel prices mean the Bank of England has less room to
manoeuvre when it comes to cutting interest rates, say analysts.
Vince
Cable, the Liberal Democrats' Treasury spokesman, said: "Rising food
bills will hit families already struggling to keep their heads above
water following big rises to many utility bills.
"The
government must show more urgency in ensuring the current world talks
on agricultural trade no longer drift hopelessly because of a lack of
political will," he said.
Click here for original article