Biodiesel powered trains

this could become another of my rants on inconsistency. That same BBC earlier this week ran a long news article on how biodiesel is far from being environmentally friendly (even though it does reduce overall emissions, being carbon-neutral).

The problem is now that (greedy) farmers both here and overseas are turning over hundreds of acres hectares from food crops to fuel crops, to such an extent that some countries are becoming short of cereals and other basic crops. Selling rape-seed oil abroad brings in much more cash than growing maize, wheat or rice for the indigenous population if you're a wealthy African farmer.

It looks once again that the west's obsession with transport, and now green fuels, is going to damage further the subsistence of poorer countries.

Exactly Phil, sooner or later, demand will outstrip supply, prices will rise and there we have it; back to same problem that exists now, [supply is running out]

BTW, nice avatar!

I sometimes wonder who thinks up these ideas. Demand most certainly will outstrip supply.
In response to a consultation on the European Biofuels Directive, DEFRA and DOT statistics indicated that in order to switch UK road transport to biodiesel we would need 25.9 million hectares of land to produce the crops. Fuel use by industry and railways was not taken into account, but would add to that figure.
The problem is, the UK has just 5.7 million hectares of land available for agriculture and most of that is required for food.

On the subject...

The US has signed up to an agreement to reduce Greenhouse Gases... But it's not the golden deal German Chancellor Angella Merkel, wanted. But she says it is a compromise and is a great step towards a 50% reduction, by 2015...

Ah, yeah, if the UK does not have anough arable land to farm all this on, produce will have to come from abroad, meaning they'll grow it, and be forced to sell the seed for as little as possible...

IIRC, they were destroying the Amazon rain forest when i was little; I remember watching an environmental programme on it when I was about 8...

...and as long as you pay HM Revenue & Customs, which you can do via your local friendly office.

HMR&C will not expect you to pay duty on it from 'sometime' this summer, if you produce less than 2,500 litres per year.

www.hmrc.gov.uk/briefs/excise-duty/brief3707.htm

This is because so many people are using it, it is a nightmare for them to collect the small amount of revenue - and so many don't declare it anyway.

True, but that is the result not the effect.
Fabio Feldman was the man who drafted the Brazilian political strategy on climate change. As a former member of Congress he helped to pass the law that put biofuels in Brazil’s vehicles. But, he now speaks out against them because of the gargantuan rise in air and water pollution that is caused by their production, the deforestation of the Amazon and Atlantic rain forests that has happened in order to provide land to grow the crops and the wholesale destruction of the unique Savannah land.
He says, "Some of the cane plantations are the size of European states, these vast monocultures have replaced important eco-systems. If you see the size of the plantations in the state of Sao Paolo they are oceans of sugar cane. In order to harvest you must burn the plantations which creates a serious air pollution problem in the city."
Although the biofuel policy is used to show how green Brazil is, we should remember that it is actually listed as the fourth largest producer of carbon emissions in the world.

That depends on who benefits. The price of US corn has doubled this year as demand for biofuels increases - and that is pushing up food prices. To cash in on the boom American farmers are switching from soy to corn, which will in turn lead to an increase in soy prices.
Realising that his country does not have enough land to for biofuel production, President Bush has just negotiated a deal to have these crops grown in...guess where? Brazil!

Although the side effects of using fossil fuels are regularly stated, maybe some consideration should also be given to the possible side effects of moving UK transport (including railways) onto biofuel.


Please note that I am not expressing any political views. I am simply stating facts and backing them with attributable quotes.
At some time in the future I might make reference to other viewpoints. But then again, I might just follow the actions of another member of this forum and go and listen to the shipping forecast.

;D! You're welcome to part of my mp3 collection!

Deviating the thread (still) further, I was on the M5 yesterday and was overtaken by one of those 'eco-friendly' Prius thingys. I won't say what speed I was doing but my estimate of his speed was a bit over 92mph. So much for HIM saving the planet by reducing his emissions by careful driving...........