UN says Biofuel can bring benefits
Posted by DavidM in Biofuel | 19 November 2007
Disappointingly, even BBC Radio 4 is now dumbing down and sensationalising stories to the extent that what you hear on the radio isn't representative of the truth.
On my way to work last week I heard a Radio 4 news story about a United Nations report damning biofuel for doing more harm than good. As my car is powered by biodiesel my heart sank but as they went on the report talked abut the impact on rainforests of new plantations to grow palm oil to be turned into biofuel.
This made me feel a little easier as my biodiesel comes from recycled cooking oil, so no rainforests are chopped down or third world peasants starved just so I can get to work.
I couldn't actually fid a report on this story on the BBC website, but I did find a story about an UN report from May this year.
That UN report was very positive about biofuel (though of course most of the BBC article focuses on the negative aspects) and at the beginning it makes the clear statement "Produced by a cross-agency body, UN Energy, the report says that biofuels can bring real benefits. But there can be serious consequences if...".
The 'if's are valid but that's all they focus on. Of course there are potential problems if we don't approach it properly but it's the same with anything.
Biofuels are a renewable resource and if generated responsibly can have a positive effect. The technology is in it's infancy and there's little education and governance around it's production. We need a quality mark for producers to guarantee the source of biofuel from ethical means and where possible we should be re-using waste products first.
I'll comfortably continue using biodiesel despite the BBC's best efforts but I am thinking of changing radio station. If you can't rely on Radio 4, then really, the world is in a very sorry state.
