NFU president chains himself to biofuels bandwagon

National Farmers’ Union president Peter Kendall has warned the Government that backtracking from its biofuels policy would stifle the UK renewable fuel industry and harm the global environment.

Mr Kendall leapt to the defence of the biofuels industry after Defra’s chief scientist launched an outspoken attack on the technology earlier in the week (see below).

Mr Kendall insists that there were no environmental grounds to backtrack on the policy. “All of the evidence that we have indicates that biofuels manufactured from crops grown sustainably in the UK, do deliver significant reductions in greenhouse gases as compared with fossil fuels, measured over the full cycle of production and use,” he said.

"Delaying the RTFO would deter investment in the technology in the UK. This would mean that the demand for biofuels – which will be there regardless of the RTFO as fossil fuels run out – would be met by fuels produced abroad with less concern for the environment than if they were grown in the UK.," he bleated.

I'd have thought that UK livestock farmers might like to have a word in Mr Kendall's shell-like asking him to stand their corner for a change.