Demand for green biofuels pushing up food prices, Government report warns

The dash for green biofuels has played a 'significant' part in pushing up food prices, a damning new Government report warns.

The study, due to be published next week, says demand for plant-based fuels is partly responsible for the worldwide crisis that has left 100million people short of food and sent grocery bills soaring in the UK.

The findings will come as a major embarrassment to the Government which has committed Britain to using more fuels derived from corn and vegetable oil as a way of cutting carbon dioxide emissions.

Since April, all diesel and petrol sold in the UK has contained 2.5 per cent biofuel, while by 2010 the figure will increase to five per cent. Europe is considering a 10 per cent target by 2020.

The Gallagher Review was commissioned in February by Transport Minister Ruth Kelly.

It followed increasingly dire warnings from scientists, environmentalists and senior Government advisers that green fuels are doing more harm than good.

Kenneth Richter, Friends of the Earth’s biofuels campaigner said: 'Instead of easing the climate crisis, the Gallagher review shows that biofuels are actually making it worse – as well as causing hunger and suffering across the world.

'The real problem is the sheer scale of the EU’s biofuels target. Finding enough land to grow 10 per cent of Europe’s road transport fuel will be bad for people and bad for wildlife. So-called sustainability criteria won’t solve this alone.

'European Government’s must drop these targets and concentrate on cutting fuel use by improving public transport and insisting that all new cars use petrol much more smartly.'

A 4x4 in central London: Biofuel critics say the grain needed to fill the tank of a 4x4 car could feed one person for a year

Most of the biofuels now in use are derived from food crops such as corn, palm, soya and rapeseed.

In America around a third of all corn is used for fuel, while half of Europe's vegetable oil goes towards biofuel production.

The draft report, by Prof Ed Gallagher of the Renewable Fuels Agency, called for more research into the impact of biofuels on food supplies and land  use before the Government sets new targets.

It also said distinctions should be made between the current first generation of biofuels made from food crops, and future 'second generation' which could be based on non-food crops or plants which grow on ground unsuitable for conventional crops.

Critics say biofuels take up land that would otherwise be used for food, reducing food supplies and driving up prices.

The grain needed to fill the tank of a 4x4 car could feed one person for a year, they say.

They also warn that valuable rain-forests in South America and Asia are being destroyed to create land to meet the demand for biofuels.

And they say that the carbon emissions from growing and transporting the fuels are high.

The Renewables Fuel Agency declined to comment on the report until after it was published.

A Department for Transport spokesperson said: 'The Government has asked Professor Gallagher to carry out an in-depth review of the wider impacts of biofuel production. 

'We will use the findings from this review to inform the development of future policies and to inform negotiations on future EU biofuel targets.'