What are Biofuels?

The fuels that we traditionally use in our cars can be substituted by biofuels: biodiesel instead of diesel and bioethanol instead of petrol. Biodiesel can be made from crops that produce suitable oils such as oilseed rape, palm, and soya. It can also be made by recycling oil that has already been used for cooking, or from tallow.

Bioethanol is an alcohol, produced in a similar way to other alcohols such as spirits. However, it's not recommended for drinking! Like these products it requires crops such as wheat, maize, sugar beet, and sugar cane that contain starch or sugar which can be converted into alcohol.

The UK biofuels industry has developed world-leading sustainability standards which ensure that biofuel production in the UK does not have a detrimental effect on the environment. UK biofuels companies can therefore deliver sustainable biofuels which deliver carbon savings, and can help to reduce global warming. By law, all fuel on UK forecourts must have a percentage of biofuels. It is up to individual fuel companies to decide where they buy the biofuels to include with their fuel - it may come from the UK, or from a variety of overseas sources.

A variety of new renewable energy technologies are in the process of being developed for the production of biofuels. However, these are some years off being a commercial reality. Without the introduction of current technologies, it will take even longer and possibly even prevent bringing advanced technologies to commercial use.