Use of biofuels for aviation will drive rainforest loss and push up world food prices, says Friends of the Earth
LONDON (AlertNet) - Leading green group Friends of the Earth has dismissed Britain's first commercial flight run on biofuel as a "hollow PR stunt that paves the way for rainforest destruction".
Thomson Airways says it will be the first UK airline to fly customers on "sustainable" biofuel when a Thursday afternoon flight takes off from Birmingham airport to Arrecife in Lanzarote, carrying 232 passengers.
The company claims to occupy "a position at the forefront of sustainable aviation". In a statement, it said it operates with an emissions rate of 75g CO2 per passenger kilometre flown, significantly lower than average rates for other carriers.
But Friends of the Earth said the company is using virgin plant oil from the United States and babassu nuts from Brazil, which "are very short in supply". It is concerned the company will choose unsustainable alternatives when it launches daily flights run on biofuels early next year.
Thomson's parent company TUI is looking into soya and palm oil for the fleet, which are "known drivers of rainforest deforestation", Friends of the Earth said in a statement.
Thomson Airways said its "sustainable" biofuel is supplied by Dutch-based company SkyNRG, which is advised by an independent sustainability board made up of two non-governmental organisations and a government science institute.
Chris Browne, the company's managing director, said the adoption of sustainable biofuels for flights would help the UK government meet its target to reduce carbon emissions by 50 percent by 2025.
"Most strikingly, sustainable biofuel has the potential to reduce aviation emissions by up to 80 percent in the long term," he added.
"The government believes that sustainable biofuels have a role to play in efforts to tackle climate change, particularly in sectors where no other viable low carbon energy source has been identified - as is the case with aviation," said UK aviation minister Theresa Villiers, according to the company's statement.
UPWARD PRESSURE ON FOOD PRICES?
But Friends of the Earth's biofuels campaigner Kenneth Richter argued that biofuels will not make flying any greener.
"Their production is wrecking rainforests, pushing up food prices and causing yet more climate-changing emissions," he said. "The government must curb future demand for flights by halting airport expansion, promoting video conferencing, and developing faster, better and affordable rail services."
The environmental campaigning group said Thomson Airways had initially planned to launch test flights in July running on used cooking oil, but could not source enough fuel. It would take the average person about 100 years to save up enough chip fat to fly from Birmingham to Lanzarote on a one-way flight, according to Friends of the Earth.
In mid-July, Lufthansa became the first airline to use biofuels on regular commercial flights in a six-month trial that it estimated will reduce CO2 emissions by up to 1,500 tonnes during the period.
Lufthansa is using a mix of regular fuel and biofuel made from jatropha and camelina crops and animal fats in one engine of an Airbus plane on daily flights between Frankfurt and Hamburg.
In June, European airlines, biofuel producers and the EU Commission signed up to produce 2 million tonnes of biofuel for aviation by 2020.
Airlines hope to use biofuels as a way of cutting down on pollution from jet fuel. But the use of food crops, such as palm oil, in their production has come under fire for taking land that could be used to grow food to feed people.
A report by 10 international agencies including the World Bank and World Trade Organisation published earlier this year said governments should scrap policies to support biofuels because they are forcing up global food prices.
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