The government's new biofuels quango has a big job to do if it is to give credibility to ministers' policies on the import and manufacture of biofuels. The FT reported yesterday that establishing the Renewable Fuels Agency was an attempt by transport secretary Ruth Kelly to dampen criticism of government strategies on renewable fuel. It's a bit late for that, given that the Renewable Transport Fuels Obligation has been waived through by Parliament. From April next year, this new regulation will require at least five per cent of the UK's transport fuels to come from biofuels but there's no compulsion on producers to prove that their crop sources are sustainable or that their cropping methods actually cut emissions. There is no mention of this in Ms Kelly's press release. Nor is there mention of the impact that growing energy crops on land previously farmed for food crops will have on poorer communities in developing countries. Columnist George Monbiot said in yesterday's Guardian that the government of Swaziland was exporting biofuel made from cassava, one of the country's staple crops. Thousands of hectares of farmland had been switched to ethanol production in the district of Swaziland worst hit by drought. At the same time, 40 per cent of Swaziland's people were facing acute food shortages. Those promoting biofuels have lost sight of what these fuels are there to do - to cut greenhouse gas emissions and slow the rate of climate change. The west is pushing ahead too hastily with barely a thought for the consequences - rainforest destruction in Indonesia and Brazil and the ploughing up of set-aside land in Europe. And countries like Swaziland are inevitably jumping at the chance of a big fat cheque. George Monbiot says the humanitarian impact of biofuel developments will be greater than the Iraq war if policies are not reversed. If policies are not reversed biofuel development will have no impact at all on efforts to curb climate change. Click here for Ruth Kelly’s press release
Click here to read George Monbiot