Views are being sought from today on the potential advantages and disadvantages of new types of biofuels produced from non-food crops such as algae, trees and agricultural waste.
Biofuels are renewable liquid fuels derived from microorganisms, plant or animal material (biomass). They can be used, in their pure form or as part of blends, to fuel vehicles and generate heat and power.
To date, ‘first generation' biofuels have been produced mainly from food crops such as sugar cane, soy bean and wheat.
New advacnes in technology have meant that not only can biofuels be produced from non-food crop sources, but the yield of biofuel crops can be increased and the production process improved to maximise the energy output of land and reduce net greenhouse gas emissions by as much as 80% to 90% compared to petrol or diesel.
In response to this technology, which may be ten years away from commercialisation, the Nuffield Council on Bioethics has published a consultation today. It aims to discover if new advances in biofuels can meet Britain's energy needs, support economic development and help address climate change in an ethical and sustainable way.
The body, funded jointly by the Nuffield Foundation, the Medical Research Council and the Wellcome Trust, said that new approaches to biofuel production could potentially create jobs and new sources of income.
The Council said that these newer fuels had the potential to avoid the problems of first generation biofuels, whose net greenhouse gas emissions are not much better than fossil fuels. The Council added that there have also been concerns about their impact on the environment, food availability, and farmers and communities in developing countries.
The Council is also set to consider how the policies of governments and international organisations affect biofuel production and research, publishing its recommendations and advice to policy makers by the end of 2010.
Views
Professor Joyce Tait, chair of the Council's Working Party on biofuels said the body wanted to hear people's views on how to best promote, provide incentives for, and regulate new types of biofuels in ways that are both ethical and sustainable.
"Before these new types of biofuels are brought into wider use, we are considering their potential to meet our energy needs, support economic development and, along with changes in lifestyle, help address climate change in an ethical and sustainable way," she said.
"We need to think early about how we can avoid the problems of first generation biofuels."
She added that although a legally-binding agreement was not reached in Copenhagen, there was still a wide range of existing national and international policies that influenced biofuels, but more needed to be done to convince investors of their potential.
"Industry investment has a major impact on the direction of biofuel development, but the changeable nature of biofuel governance has created a lack of investor confidence," Professor Tait said.
The deadline for consultation responses is March 15 2010.
RFA
The Renewable Fuels Agency (RFA), the non-departmental government body that manages the Renewable Transport Fuel Obligation (RTFO) and allocates Renewable Transport Fuel Certificates (RTFCs) to suppliers of biofuels in the UK, said it welcomed the Nuffield Council consultation.
A spokesman for the RFA said: "Advanced technologies hold the promise of better sustainability, but this should not be taken for granted - this is why the mandatory sustainability criteria being introduced by the EU Renewable Energy Directive will apply to all biofuels."
He added that the RFA's reporting system already monitored the environmental and social sustainability of biofuels supplied in the UK - whether they are from 'first generation' or advanced sources - and said that the RFA would be publishing a report on the impacts of the biofuel supplied in the UK in 2008/09 at the end of January.
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