| Biofuels makes sense but only if they are sustainable |
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| Written by Giles Clark, London | |
| Wednesday, 18 April 2007 | |
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by Dr Stephen Ladyman, UK Minister of State for Transport This has been the clear and unambiguous position of the government for some time. In 2004, for example, we chose to set a relatively cautious target for biofuel sales under the EU's Biofuels Directive, primarily because we did not want simply to subsidise imports of unsustainable biofuel from overseas. We were heavily criticised for not going further at the time. But even then, we were clear in our understanding that biofuels simply had to be sustainable if they were going to make sense. Since then, we’ve done a huge amount of work developing the RTFO in consultation with industry, academia, NGOs and other stakeholders. As a result, we have a good idea of how we are going to cover the environmental impacts of biofuels when the RTFO comes into force in April 2008. In fact, we can promise that from Day One when the RTFO is launched in April 2008, all stakeholders will have transparency about the range of biofuels included in the RTFO. No-one will be able to claim a certificate for a single litre of biofuel unless they are prepared to complete a mandatory report on the carbon savings it has offered, as well as providing information on the wider environmental impacts associated with the biofuel. We are about to publish details of what we will want to see covered in these reports and we will be making the information from these reports public. In this way, motorists will be able to see at glance how well their fuel supplier has performed against various environmental criteria. That means they will be free to choose where they buy their fuel based on clear information. They will be able see quite plainly whether company "A" sources biofuels from the UK or from elsewhere. They will be free to ask why company "B" does not know where its biofuels come from. And they will have transparency over whether company "C" is sourcing palm oil that does not meet the Round Table on Sustainable Palm Oil standards. This will be a world first and it will create a very real incentive for transport fuel suppliers to source the most sustainable biofuels. After all, no-one wants their brand to be tarnished by association with products with a questionable environmental impact. And of course, environmental pressure groups and others will be on hand to hold transport fuel suppliers to account. As such, I believe this will be a very effective mechanism in promoting the best, most sustainable biofuels. In the longer term, though, I want to go further still. We need to develop the RTFO so that it does not offer any reward to biofuels that don’t meet certain minimum environmental standards. At the same time, we want to reward the biofuels that offer the best environmental benefits based on the carbon savings that they offer. This will provide an even greater incentive for the industry to develop advanced, second generation biofuels, which we already know have the potential to offer much greater carbon savings than those on the market today. I want to move toward this goal as soon as possible, but we need to be pragmatic. First of all, we do not yet have agreed sustainability standards for biofuels. Not internationally. Not at European level. And not at UK level. We don’t even have a robust, universally agreed way of calculating the precise carbon savings from specific biofuels. That means we are not in a position to impose mandatory sustainability or carbon saving standards on biofuels at present. Of course, we have our own very clear ideas about how we should calculate carbon savings. We also have a clear vision of what sustainability criteria we want to address, such as land use changes or impacts on biodiversity, water resources, soil quality and so on. But we can’t simply impose our views on the global biofuels market. If we go down that road, there is a very real risk that we will end up with a World Trade Organisation challenge on our hands – that puts us back to square one. So we must have international agreements in place before we act. That's why the Secretary of State, Douglas Alexander, has written to the European Commission urging them to develop a common EU approach in this area. And it's why officials have been working together with the UK's Low Carbon Vehicle Partnership, other Member States and international standard setting bodies to try and hammer out a common set of principles and objectives. The UK is widely seen as taking a global lead in this area, and it's something we should be proud of. Some people – including some environmental NGOs – are arguing that we should not even start the RTFO until we can introduce mandatory carbon and sustainability criteria. But I must say, it seems very strange to me that we are being asked to delay a very positive environmental policy until every last detail has been ironed out. In the first place, this puts at risk the investments that have already been pumped into sustainable biofuel production in the UK. And secondly, I don’t believe we should sit back and do nothing for the next few years while we argue over whether a particular biofuel delivers a 30% or a 40% carbon saving compared to an equivalent fossil fuel. Making progress on the RTFO is far too important for it to be shelved while we discuss the finer details of the standards that we want to create. So I would much rather get started straight away and work toward creating a vibrant, viable, and sustainable market for biofuels in the UK. Biofuels are going to play a major role in meeting Britain’s long-term strategic energy needs and I don’t want to lose any momentum in transforming potential into reality. Implementing the RTFO means that by 2010 we will have created an annual market for 2.5 billion litres of biofuels. It also means that we will have slashed the UK’s annual carbon emissions by around a million tonnes – the equivalent of taking a million cars off the road. That is an important goal for us in the medium term and we remain committed to achieving more in the future. So in answer to our critics I’d say, yes – we are very keen to drive ahead and develop the market and support renewable transport fuels. But we will only do that at a pace that is consistent with what we can deliver sustainably. As I’ve said many times before, the RTFO should be done sustainably, or not all. The RTFO already has safeguards in place that we will build on and I would urge critics and supporters alike to get behind us and help make the most of the potential that biofuels can offer. |
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