Daily Telegraph: Blow for farmers over bio-fuel: “Lord Oxburgh, the former chairman of Shell, in a paper delivered at the Oxford Farming Conference, warned that making petrol or diesel from energy crops such as maize was "scarcely worthwhile doing".: Monday 9 January 2006
By Charles Clover, Environment Editor
(Filed: 09/01/2006)
Farmers' belief that energy crops hold the key to a more profitable future has taken a blow with the disclosure that the oil companies think it is more efficient to make fuel out of straw and green waste.
The Government has introduced a "bio-fuels obligation" that says that by 2010 five per cent of petrol and diesel on the forecourts must be from renewable sources.
It fostered the hope that this would be a new source of revenue for farmers. However, Lord Oxburgh, the former chairman of Shell, in a paper delivered at the Oxford Farming Conference, warned that making petrol or diesel from energy crops such as maize was "scarcely worthwhile doing".
Matt Ware, the National Farmers' Union's adviser on non-food crops, accused oil companies of having a "vested interest" in promoting fuel from straw because they could make money from their current refining infrastructure.
"Using this as an excuse not to develop biofuels now is a bit disingenuous," he said. A Department of Transport spokesman said: "The Government wants to ensure that the best bio-fuels are used for the obligation." The Government would identify these under its "sustainability and carbon assurance scheme".
The obligation would come from "conventional biofuels," the spokesman said, "but we also hope the obligation will encourage the development of advanced technologies which can use straw and green bits of municipal waste.
"These have the potential to give even higher carbon savings, at a lower cost."
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