John Beddington, the [UK] government’s current chief scientific adviser, has already expressed scepticism about biofuels. At a speech in Westminster this month he said demand for biofuels from the US had delivered a “major shock” to world agriculture, which was raising food prices globally. “There are real problems with the unsustainability of biofuels,” he said, adding that cutting down rainforest to grow the crops was “profoundly stupid”.
This piece in the Guardian discusses why the UK is about to fight the EU’s pending biofuels quota of 10% by 2020. Not surprisingly, the EU’s quota could result in higher food prices. Does anyone actually expect a government quota to produce positive results? Or even, results without unintended negative consequences?