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LONDON - BRITISH Prime Minister Gordon Brown is said to be on a collision course with the European Union over the use of biofuels, after a top government scientist warned that they could actually worsen climate change.
Under an EU directive, Britain is committed to ensuring that from next Tuesday, all petrol and diesel must contain 2.5 per cent crop-based biofuels.
But The Guardian newspaper reported yesterday that Professor Bob Watson, chief scientific adviser at the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, had launched an outspoken attack on compulsory biofuel quotas before their effects had been properly assessed.
He was quoted as saying: 'If one started to use biofuels...and in reality that policy led to an increase in greenhouse gases rather than a decrease, that would obviously be insane.'
And he drove his point home by saying: 'It would certainly be a perverse outcome.'
There is little Britain can do about its legally binding commitment to a 2003 EU directive that requires that 5.75 per cent of petrol and diesel must come from renewable sources by 2010.
But The Guardian said that Mr Brown is believed to be preparing to fight an EU plan to raise the quota to 10 per cent by 2020.
It quoted a senior government source as saying: 'There is a growing feeling that we need to get all the facts. Some biofuels are OK but there are serious questions about others. More work needs to be done.'
The 'green' fuels were initially widely embraced as part of the solution to global warming.
US President George W. Bush was one of the idea's big champions and there has been a worldwide rush to grow biofuel crops such as corn, sugar cane and rapeseed.
Singapore is among those eager to get in on the act, with a research farm examining the potential of 'wonder plant' jatropha curcas, and a Finnish firm planning to build the world's biggest biodiesel plant in the Republic, to convert palm oil into fuel for cars.
As the New Scientist pointed out last month, the biofuel idea makes 'intuitive environmental sense - plants take up carbon dioxide as they grow, so biofuels should help reduce greenhouse gas emissions'.
But there has been a growing body of resistance to the idea, with fears that it could cause serious environmental damage and lead to food shortages.
And in Britain there appears to be a growing groundswell of resistance, with Prof Watson receiving swift backing from the government's former chief scientific adviser, Professor David King.
Prof King said that biofuel quotas should be put on hold until the completion of a review commissioned by ministers.
And there are expectations that the report, from Britain's Renewable Fuels Agency head Ed Gallagher, could be used as ammunition in the fight against extending biofuel quotas being championed by European Commission president Manuel Barroso.
Prof King was quoted by the paper as saying: 'What is absolutely desperately needed within government are people of integrity who will state what the science advice is under whatever political pressure or circumstances.'
His successor as chief scientific adviser, Mr John Beddington, has also made clear his scepticism about green fuel, with The Guardian quoting him as saying this month that there are 'real problems with the unsustainability of biofuels'.
And Prime Minister Brown signalled his own position as long ago as November, saying: 'I take extremely seriously concerns about the impact of biofuels on deforestation, precious habitats and on food security...and we will not support an increase in biofuels over current target levels until an effective standard is in place.'
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