Biofuels Secret Report

Barmy Bio Fuels.

It is not often that FirstMistake praises the Guardian. They don't deserve it often.  But they richly deserve plaudits for their efforts today. Aditya Chakrabortty's piece reporting on the suppressed World Bank report on food prices makes sobering reading.  Some of the more shocking items are

• Biofuels have forced global food prices up by 75%
• Rising food prices have pushed 100m people worldwide below the poverty line, estimates the World Bank, and have sparked riots from Bangladesh to Egypt
• "Without the increase in biofuels, global wheat and maize stocks would not have declined appreciably and price increases due to other factors would have been moderate,"
• The basket of food prices examined in the study rose by 140% between 2002 and this February.
• The report estimates that higher energy and fertiliser prices accounted for an increase of only 15%, while biofuels have been responsible for a 75% jump over that period.
• Over a third of US corn now used to produce ethanol.
• About half of vegetable oils in the EU going towards the production of biodiesel.

The report also concludes that biofuels make no difference to climate change.  We we all knoew that already.  This is solid respectable evidence of the gross distortion and real damage that single issue politics, the greenwash of emissions can produce. The monster of CO2 emissions must be stopped at all costs, even that of mass starvation.

100m people pushed below the poverty line.  That is an astronimical number.  In the 21st Century!  So, almost anyone almost anywhere can get stock updates to their mobile, but may not be able to get a decent meal.  Perhaps we ( mankind) should re-think our priorities.

But the report raises other questions.  Why was this report surpressed? The answer it seems is not to offend the current US administration.  Pardon me, but is it not the World Bank? It seems not to be independant of the US administration, and so can only be thought of as an extension of the US Fed.  Thankfully, reading between the lines ( "senior development sources" ), someone at the world bank has the courage of their convictions and leaked this report.  Otherwise we would have been none the wiser. 

Other questions are what is the world bank going to do about this? Who is benefitting from the rush to biofuels?  The US Automotive and Oil industries?  Perhaps not; General Motors and the others are hardly solvent just now due to the fall out from the credit crunch.

In the UK, we are now being told biofuels will form part of our energy strategy, as well as wind.  A little while ago I heard of a pioneering local community initiative.  The idea was to utilise waste cooking oil to produce bio-diesel.  A collection round was proposed, collecting used cooking oils from food manufacturing plants, chip shops, restaurants, homes and then cleaning this up and producing bio-diesel.  The process boils down ( no-pun intended ) to removing particulates and making teh oil less viscous.  A great idea.   It does not take oils from the food chain, but rather uses them after we have benefitted from their food value.  It is a renewable source.   It is probably "carbon nuetral" and does not contribute to man-made global warming if you believe in that.  It could have been of benefit to the community, providing a cheaper fuel to low income familys and other community initiative such as community mini-busses.

And that is why Gordon Brown, who is so so vexed about climate change and emissions that he is setting out on a £100 Billion programme, has clamped down on this initiative.  Because the government says that fuel duty has to be paid on bio-diesel made this way.  Even if it is re-cycled cooking oil.

But wait, I hear some of you say, goood 'ol Gody changed the regulations a little time ago and now you are allowed to make 2,500 litresfor personal use, which it is said is what an average family car uses in a year.. Hmm, so we are told.

Here is the link to the HMRC website copy of teh relevant document. The paragraph 2.4 seems to indicate that if you use these 2,500 litres a motor fuel, you will need to pay duty. To quote,

"If you produce 2,500 litres or more biofuels a year, or use them as motor fuel on which duty has not been paid, you will need to contact us so that we can make arrangements for you to account for the excise duty due on any products set aside, or delivered for use, as a motor fuel."

Seems quite clear.  However, paragraph 4.2.1 seems to exempt this.  Confusing?  Absolutely, and FirstMistake believes this is the intention in order to put people off. So this isi not a real measure to kick start the re-cycling of used cooking oils into fuel, just an example of a cynical tinkering change that allow the government to spin to us the have istened and changed the law regarding bio-fuels.  They see us as cash cows, and are simply using green concerns as a way to tax us even more heavily.

If this was not the case, and the government were serious about energy and emissions, there already would be measures and incentives in place to encourage the re-use of cooking oils that have exhausted their capability of food production to benefit from economies of scale.  But no, revenue would be lost. And they are hell bent on supporting schemes that will increase our costs for energy and prove unreliable - but then with higher energy company profits, the exchequer gets higher tax revenues.

No, we will be forced to pursue the daft version of bio-fuels, the version that makes food prices climb sky high. Already over 2% of our fuel must be sourced from bio-fuels, and the EU are set to force this higher ver soon.

So, both these technologies, wind and biofuels, as solutions to our energy problem prove to be problematical.  Wind is unreliable and will often fail at times of peak demand, such as when you come home from work and want to cook your evening meal.  At least the combination of wind and biofuels solves that problem because you won't be able to afford a meal.

Read more...

Gordon "The Moron" Strikes Again

London : 26 June 2008.

Gordon "The Moron" Strikes Again

Today Gordon Brown, the prime minister with the midden touch ( everything he touches turns out to be rubbish ) announced his green energy "master plan".  He is going to spend £100 Billion of taxpayers money.   That is stupidity on a massive scale.

Read more...

The Next Energy Profit Bubble

This short piece appeared in the Financial Times News Digest on 07 April 2008

Read more...