What the Experts Say

At present, there is a lack of real alternatives to help reduce GHG (greenhouse gas) emissions or over-dependence on oil in the transport sector, which makes it essential to develop biofuels in as sustainable a way as possible"
Royal Society Report on Sustainable Biofuels, January 2008

"Biofuels have been given such an extraordinarily bad press there is a danger we could deny ourselves the very real benefits they offer, because of the strength of misinformation, distortion and exaggeration. In that context, Biofuels Day could hardly have been better timed, as it will give us a chance to restore some much-needed balance to what has become an absurdly over-heated debate over the impacts of this technology.
     The facts of the matter are biofuels are at present the only renewable alternative in transport fuels, and produced sustainably they offer genuine savings in CO2 emissions, and we do need to invest in developing this technology so as to maximise its benefits. In the meantime, buying British biofuels produced from crops grown in accordance with strict farm assurance standards is the best guarantee of ensuring sustainability credentials."
Peter Kendall, President, National Farmers’ Union

"For vehicle manufacturers to make the investments needed, a long-term market for transport fuels containing a high blend of biofuels must be
established."
Royal Society Report on Sustainable Biofuels, January 2008

"Road transport emissions in England went up by 12% between 1997 and 2006; and the 2006 UK Climate Change Programme Review forecast that increased road transport emissions due to traffic growth over the period 1990-2010 would more than outweigh the entire suite of carbon reduction policies aimed at the transport sector"
Environmental Audit Committee, ‘Pre-Budget Report March 2008

"To consider a five-year moratorium on biofuels, to roll back the breathtaking progress that has been made in getting these sometimes quite uncomfortable, sometimes very diffuse, complicated frameworks built into policy, would be an absolute own goal…."
Dr. Jeremy Woods, Lecturer in Bioenergy at Imperial College London and member of the Royal Society Working Group on Sustainable Biofuels.

"In a world where carbon accounting and subsequent market mechanisms will become commonplace in response to the threat of global climate change, the way in which these issues are addressed for biofuels should set the precedent for how all products and services will have to be treated in the future" Royal Society Report on Sustainable Biofuels, January 2008

"All production systems must eventually move towards meeting the same sustainability standards (and) there are strong linkages between non-food and food plant products"
Royal Society Report on Sustainable Biofuels, January 2008

"This need to get knowledge, to get investment in agriculture and forestry production in developing countries is absolutely central to the whole debate about whether there is a viable, nice future for the world give or take the climate change discussion, and biofuels can play a small, but important role in directing some of that investment capacity."
Dr. Jeremy Woods, Lecturer in Bioenergy at Imperial College London and member of the Royal Society Working Group on Sustainable Biofuels.

"18 million hectares of land have been cleared for oil palm, but not subsequently planted. The prime motivation for this additional land clearance is reportedly access to timber rather than plantation development."
Friends of the Earth Report, ‘Losing Ground’, January 2008

"Under the right conditions, biofuels offer important opportunities for poverty reduction by stimulating stagnant agricultural sectors, thus creating jobs for agricultural workers and markets for small farmers"
Biofuelling Poverty, Oxfam Report, November 2007

"There are real sustainability challenges for biofuels but they are not insurmountable. They can be addressed through credible, independent standards agreed and applied internationally and uniformly by the supply industry to all bioenergy production whether for biofuels or heat and electricity generation."
WWF Submission to the Environmental Audit Committee, November 2007

‘Currently only a small percentage of palm oil is used for biofuels, with most being used in food and cosmetics. The market for palm oil in these sectors is enormous – one in ten supermarket products contain it.’
Environmental Audit Committee, ‘Are Biofuels Sustainable?’, January 2008

"European consumers should be assured that the biofuels used in Europe, and receiving support, are sustainable biofuels, in other words, that the biofuels they buy do not increase greenhouse gas emissions, do not lead to the destruction of rainforests or other biodiversity-rich areas, do not exacerbate food shortages and are not unreasonably expensive. The new renewable energy Directive sets out criteria that ensure biofuels that are to count towards the European minimum targets of 10% biofuels in every Member State are sustainable. The scheme proposed is simple enough to be workable, and robust enough to be credible.
     Biofuels ought to be supported as, along with engine technology, they offer the most immediately feasible ways of significantly slowing the growth of greenhouse gas emissions from transport. This is of critical importance in a context where rising transport emissions are more then wiping out the hard-earned reductions of greenhouse gases achieved in other sectors. On the premise that all sectors of the economy should contribute toward reducing greenhouse gas emissions, a greater share of biofuel use is urgently necessary if transport is going to assume its share of responsibility for climate change.
     In the short- and medium-term, biofuel production from traditional agricultural produce increases the revenues of farmers both in Europe and in developing countries. In developing countries, this can contribute to lessening poverty. Furthermore, in the longer-term, so called “second generation” biofuels, made from waste or solid biomass such as wood, hold out the promise of much greater greenhouse gas savings and the choice of raw materials that would not be used as foodstuffs. To bridge the gap between “first-” and “second-generation” biofuels, there need to be cars made that run on biofuels, distribution networks that make fuels using a greater proportion of biofuels available at filling stations. Refining and blending capacities need to exist.
     For all these reasons, Europe cannot postpone biofuels use. On the contrary, because they contribute to security of supply and environmental improvement, biofuels should be actively promoted immediately. The best must not become the enemy of the good. There is ample land in the world to produce all the biofuels needed without causing food shortages. If Europe buys biofuels from where they are cheapest, subject to the sustainability criteria being fulfilled, the costs will not be excessive."
EU Energy Commissioner Andris Piebalgs

Click here to listen to a short interview with Dr. Jeremy Woods, Lecturer on Bioenergy at Imperial College London, and member of the Royal Society’s Working Group on Sustainable Biofuels.