Britain 'failing' on biofuel targets

European targets on increasing the use of biofuels are not being met, a committee of peers has warned.

The House of Lords European Union committee has been looking at efforts to increase the use of renewable fuels in road transport across the EU.

It found that Britain is "miles behind" its target for 2010, whereas France, Germany and Sweden are on course to meet theirs.

But it said Britain was not alone in struggling to meet the target and and the EU directive is failing to prove effective in many member states.

The committee's report commends the government for introducing a national road transport fuel obligation, which will require fuel suppliers to ensure that five per cent of their UK sales are from renewable sources.

But it urged ministers to consider whether further tax incentives will be needed to promote biofuels use.

It also called for an EU certification process to ensure that imported biofuels have not consumed more greenhouse gases in their
production than they save when they are used.

Government intervention will be necessary in at least the short term in order to provide assurance to investors that production of biofuels will continue to be financially viable, the report found.

While many EU member states are promoting biofuels in order to help achieve independence in energy supplies, others, including the UK, have put environmental considerations at the top of their priority list.

Committee chairman Lord Renton, said: "Within the last few weeks we have seen Sir Nicholas Stern's warnings about the environmental consequences of carbon emissions.

"Increasing Europe's use of biofuels has a significant role to play in dealing with this problem.

"Britain is, however, falling short of its targets on the use of biofuels.

"We welcome the government's decision to introduce a renewable transport fuels obligation - and, indeed, we would urge the European Commission to require all member states to introduce similar measures.

"But some of our European partners offer significant tax concessions to stimulate investment in biofuels. We ask the
government to consider whether more should be done in this area here."

A spokesman for the Department for Transport said it "recognises the potential of biofuels to reduce the environmental impact of transport".

"That's why we've introduced the first renewable transport fuels obligation, predicted to save one million tonnes of carbon a year by 2010," he added.

"The UK is developing a robust carbon assurance scheme to ensure that the obligation promotes the use of environmentally sustainable biofuels."