Press release

Government advisor's bioenergy review right to call for planet-friendly safeguards

7 December 2011

Responding to a report published by the Committee on Climate Change today, reviewing the potential of bioenergy for powering the UK, Friends of the Earth's Biofuels Campaigner Kenneth Richter said:

"This review is right to call for planet-friendly safeguards for using trees to create energy - but it's also vital we reduce our ambition for developing energy this way and favour tried-and-tested clean alternatives.

"Big industrial power stations burning huge quantities of imported wood pose a real threat to the world's forests - they should not be supported by taxpayers' money.

"Instead Ministers should back small-scale UK biomass sources like slurry and food waste - and focus on meeting our energy needs by developing clean energy from wind, sun and waves."

ENDS

Notes to editors

1. Friends of the Earth supports the Committee on Climate Change (CCC)'s view that the Government should scrap ROC subsidies for new large-scale biomass power stations. Rising ambition for biomass use at this scale currently poses a major threat to forests around the world.
2. We back an increase in small-scale bioenergy production using sustainable UK biomass sources, such as food waste and slurry, which can be treated by anaerobic digestion to create biogas. See recent report by the Institute for European Environmental Policy commissioned by Friends of the Earth, Greenpeace, RSPB and Woodlands Trust.
3. We are warning that the UK would need to produce a lot more energy from UK biomass sources than it does currently if it is to provide 10 per cent of our energy in 2050, as recommended by the CCC. Otherwise, this target could lead to a further increase in environmentally-damaging imported alternatives such as wood from badly-managed forests.
4. We agree that regulatory UK and EU frameworks should be strengthened to ensure sustainability of imported biomass, taking into account Indirect Land Use Change (ILUC) - when plantations for biomass and biofuels displace agricultural activity into forested areas, causing deforestation and extra carbon emissions.
5. Friends of the Earth is calling on the UK Government to scrap its share in high EU biofuels targets for transport - these are driving rainforest destruction in areas like Malaysia and Indonesia, increasing emissions and driving up food prices.
6. We believe current biofuels made from crops should not be used to fuel planes in future, as increasing demand for biofuels for cars is already causing wide-spread environmental damage. We're calling for the Government to reduce emissions from aviation by halting airport expansion and increasing Air Passenger Duty to help curb a future increase in flights - while also supporting research the potential of algae as an alternative fuel for aviation.
7. Friends of the Earth supports CCC's call on the Government to demonstrate the potential of carbon capture and storage as a matter of urgency.

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Published by Friends of the Earth Trust