What the Experts Say

Below, a variety of experts in the field of global warming, renewable energy and alternative fuels give their opinions on the use of biofuel.

"We should tackle transport’s dependence on fossil fuels ‘first through improving fuel efficiency of conventional engines and increased use of sustainable first generation biofuels, with progressive introduction of new technologies such as electric cars, plug in hybrids and hydrogen vehicles, and second generation biofuels."
Lord Turner (Chair of the Climate Change Committee), October 2008

"97% of the fuel reported as coming from UK feedstocks (in the first three months of the UK’s scheme) met environmental sustainability standards"
Renewable Fuels Agency, October 2008

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 provide a mechanism to encourage investment in agriculture to increase yields."
Gallagher Review, July 2008

"It should be possible to establish a genuinely sustainable industry provided that robust, comprehensive and mandatory sustainability standards are developed and implemented"
Gallagher Review, July 2008

"the balance of evidence indicates there is sufficient land available to satisfy demand to 2020"
Gallagher Review, July 2008

"the demand for biofuels could reverse the declining trend in real commodity prices that has depressed agricultural growth in much of the developing world over recent decades. As such, biofuels may offer an opportunity for developing countries where 75% of the worlds poor depend on agriculture for their livelihoods – to harness agricultural growth for broader rural development and poverty reduction"
FAO Report on The State of Food and Agriculture – Biofuels: prospects, risks and opportunities, October 2008

"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.
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.