MPs to debate sustainability of biofules
MPS WERE due to gather today for what was described as a ‘critical’ point in the future of biofuels on Teesside.
Twenty-two members had put their names down to speak at the debate, which will be their first public opportunity to respond to the controversial Environmental Audit Committe (EAC) report, Are Biofuels Sustainable?
Its publication in January lit the blue touchpaper to the food versus fuel debate and triggered the Gallagher inquiry, which is due to publish its findings on sustainable biofuels on June 26.
It is anticipated to be broadly supportive of the industry and reject the EAC’s call for a moritorium on the Renewable Fuels Transport Obligation - the one piece of good news for Tees producers in an otherwise bleak year, which saw the first of the area’s plants close, citing unfavourable economic conditions and bad press over biofuels.
Alwyn Hughes, chief executive of Yarm-based Ensus, which is pressing ahead with recruitment for its £250m bioethanol plant at Wilton, said: “Today's debate represents a crucial opportunity to get the facts about biofuels better understood. And the simple fact is that biofuels can be produced sustainably.
“An ill-advised blanket moratorium on the requirement for transport to use biofuels, as proposed by the EAC, would result in irreparable damage to this fledgling UK industry, putting jobs in jeopardy and threatening Britain's ability to be competitive in a growth area of the future.
“It would also deal a major blow against those seeking to contribute positively in the battle against global warming.
“We therefore see it as vital that our MPs engage in the discussion and put forward the realities of the situation.”
Of the six Teesside MPs for whom biofuels are a crucial part of their constituency, only two were last night able to confirm attendance at today’s debate.
Dari Taylor (Stockton South) who has campaigned on behalf of the industry, said: “We have some fantastic companies working in this sector in the Tees Valley that need to be recognised - and not undermined in any way.
“There are a number of key issues I want to raise, including what is being done about the European cartels which are controlling the delivery of oil. Plus we need more support for agriculture.”
Mrs Taylor said far from backtracking on the RFTO, the government should be ramping up the amount of fuel that must be made from renewable sources.
“For me 5% is too low, shouldn’t we be looking at a figure more like 20%?”
Ashok Kumar MP (Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland) said he would not be at the debate, but had arranged a meeting with Environment Minister Phil Willis to lobby on its behalf.
Frank Cook (Stockton North), said: “I’ve been instrumental in getting support for biofuels for some time but I’m feeling set back with this argument over food and fuel.”
He was not going to attend.
Bio-fuels and renewable energy consultant Ian Waller who has a stake in Tees Valley Biofuels, the company behind plans for a seed crushing plant to supply processors with locally grown feedstock, said agreed it was “fundamentally not right that we should have to cut down rain forests” and urged producers to adopt carbon models that proved a fuel’s sustainability.
