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MP's call for a biofuels moratorium welcomed
21 January 2008
Today's call (Monday 21 January) by a committee of MPs for a moratorium on biofuels, has been welcomed by Friends of the Earth. Today's report, by the Environmental Audit Committee, warns that their development could lead to environmental damage in the UK and overseas.
The EU's Renewables Directive, which is due to be published on Wednesday, is expected to signal a big increase in biofuels when it sets out plans for 10 per cent of transport fuel, to be supplied by renewable sources by 2020.
The UK Government is also pushing biofuels through its Renewable Transport Fuel Obligation (RTFO), which says that five per cent of the fuels used in our vehicles must come from biofuels by 2010. The RTFO is due to come into force in April.
Friends of the Earth is calling on the EU and the UK Government to abandon these plans.
Friends of the Earth's biofuels campaigner, Hannah Griffiths, said:
"Today's report is the latest warning about the damage that a rapid growth in biofuels could have on people and the environment. The Government and EU should abandon their plans for increasing the use of this damaging fuel, and concentrate instead on measures that will cut energy use and lead to the speedy development of safe, clean and sustainable renewables."
Last week the Royal Society warned that "biofuels risk failing to deliver significant reductions in greenhouse gas emissions from transport and could even be environmentally damaging unless the Government puts the right policies in place."
Notes
1.www.foe.co.uk/resource/press_releases/ ¬
royal_society_biofuels_war_14012008.html
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Published by Friends of the Earth Trust
Last modified: Aug 2008
