Biofuels campaign is driven by mass delusion

SO MEP Maireád McGuinness promotes growing biofuel crops for transport, which she says could represent 4% of diesel consumption (only 2.5% of vehicle fuel).

But what use is this with traffic growing at 7% per annum? This would require about 100,000 hectares, taking 8% of arable land out of food production. Many experts calculate that the gross energy input, including fertilisers, etc, is greater than the energy the biofuels actually produce.

And now Energy Minister Eamon Ryan is demanding that petrol and diesel contains 4% biofuel. This will have to be imported, resulting in higher food prices, increased poverty and deforestation in the countries from which it comes. Subsidising the production and consumption of biofuel is further nonsense.