Biofuel limits

Published on 24/10/2012 00:00

The EU Commission’s proposal to limit the production of ­biofuels from food crops is not irrational, as your article (20 ­October) stated. RSPB Scotland welcomes the 5 per cent cap, but we want it to go further. Even now, 4.5 per cent of Europe’s transport fuel is bio­fuel and made from enough food crops to feed 190 million people.

In your article, James Mills suggested “biofuel production is not a simple question of food versus fuel” because the by-products of biofuel crops can be used as livestock feed. This too is a rather unsophisticated argument as biofuel use has ­far-reaching consequences.

Growing crops primarily to produce biofuel will mean that food crops need to be grown elsewhere. In reality, this is often in developing countries where regulation is less stringent or not properly enforced, and natural habitats, such as rainforest, are cleared to grow crops.

We are calling for the EU Commission to do more to promote biofuels made from waste and properly to account for the greenhouse gas emissions that come from habitat destruction when land is cleared to make way for biofuel crops. The amount of biofuels we put in our cars should not be based simply on targets but on a ­sustainable supply, grown in harmony with nature and local communities.

Stuart Housden

RSPB Scotland

Lochside View

Edinburgh