www.forbes.com/feeds/ap/2008/03/24/ap4806595.html
LONDON - The British government's top environment scientist warned Monday that plans to make all the country's cars run partly on biofuels could actually harm the environment. Starting next month, all vehicle fuel sold in Britain will have to be at least 25 percent biofuel, a level due to rise to 5 percent by 2010. The move is intended to cut emissions of greenhouse gases caused by burning fossil fuels like oil. But Environment Department science adviser Robert Watson said some biofuels may not be environmentally sustainable. He called for the policy change to be postponed until a review of their impact is completed. Watson said that "while some sources of biofuels do appear to be potentially sustainable from an environmental point of view, others certainly are not." "It would obviously be totally insane if we had a policy to try and reduce greenhouse gas emissions through the use of biofuels that's actually leading to an increase in the greenhouse gases from biofuels," Watson told British Broadcasting Corp. "The current policy potentially has drawbacks, there's no question," he added. Backers of biofuels such as ethanol made from plants say they are a green alternative to traditional energy sources. But critics say forests and food crops are being razed so land can be turned over to biofuels. Environmental groups including Greenpeace and Friends of the Earth called on the government Monday to halt its biofuel plan, saying "there is a very real risk that (it) will make climate change worse, not better." In January, Parliament's environmental audit committee called Britain's biofuels policy "reckless" and said the government should stop promoting their production.
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