Information on Loughborough

Biofuel Change welcomed by Loughborough MP

Posted on 10/07/2008

filling station petrol pumps

Andy Reed, Loughboroughs MP, has welcomed the government response to Biofuels after recent reports showed the rush to produce is causing harm to food production and development. He said the government was right to amend the policy on Biofuels but not to abandon it.

 

Andy said: "About 5 years ago the people lobbying us to halt the Biofuels revolution are the same people who were lobbying us to head down the Biofuels route and said we were not going fast enough. It shows we should not always follow lobbying fashion!"

 

"There does seem to be a genuine issue though as production has happened so fast and there have been consequences for food production. But we must not throw out the baby with bathwater. There IS still a role for Biofuels and this needs investment and certainty. This report and response from the government seems to get this largely right."

 

The review, commissioned by Ruth Kelly in February, looked at the wider social and environmental impacts, particularly the indirect impacts, of different forms of biofuel production, in order to inform the development of both the UK and EUs policies.

 

Sustainable biofuels have an important role to play in helping us meet our climate change commitments. By 2020 biofuels have the potential to deliver annual global greenhouse gas savings of approximately 338 - 371 million tonnes of carbon dioxide

 

But given the uncertainty and potential concerns Professor Gallagher sets out, it is right to adopt a more cautious approach until we can be more confident that we can satisfactorily control and limit the adverse effects on the wider environment and vulnerable people.

 

We will therefore consult on slowing down the rate of increase in the UKs Renewable Transport Fuel Obligation (RTFO), taking the level to 5% by volume, as Gallagher recommends, by 2013/14.