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Biofuels

I am delighted; although my right hon. Friend intervened at some length, every word that he said was apposite. I am grateful for his intervention and his deep knowledge of the subject. I trust that in his reply, my hon. Friend the Minister will be able to indicate three things for each of the policy proposals that I shall put forward. First, does he accept that the proposal is correct? Secondly, will he indicate whether it is already Government policy? Thirdly, where it is not, will he indicate whether he will endeavour to make it Government policy? I turn to the proposals. First, the expansion of biofuel production should occur only where there is conclusive evidence of significant full life cycle CO2 reductions relative to fossil fuel comparators. The Minister will realise that if the land under cultivation has a high stock of carbon in the soil, or if existing vegetation is removed to enable biofuel planting, there is a strong risk that carbon from the soil or pre-existing vegetation will be released into the atmosphere, offsetting any potential positive carbon reductions from the use of the biofuel product. Land where carbon stock cannot be compensated within a reasonable period by the greenhouse gas savings from use of the biofuel should not be converted to biofuel production. In accordance with the EU renewable energy directive, the calculation of emissions of greenhouse gas from biofuel production, EB, should account for all of the following: emissions from the extraction or cultivation of raw materials, including tillage, cultivation, the carbon costs of waste and leakage, and the production of chemicals or products used; annualised emissions from carbon stock changes caused by direct land use change; emissions from processing; and emissions from transport and distribution, as well as the emissions from the biofuel when used. There should be subtracted from that any carbon capture and sequestration and/or excess electricity from co-generation, together with the proportion of emissions saved through co-products. Those emissions should be compared against a fossil fuel comparator—EF—and the net saving, if any, calculated as That will indicate an overall percentage greenhouse gas saving, and the biofuel in question should be considered sustainable only if the percentage saving is significant. The second proposal is that the expansion of biofuels should not come at the expense of food security or of land of high biodiversity and conservation value. To achieve that, land use planning both in the UK and in developing nations should be promoted, so that account can be taken of the likely impact of land use changes upon food prices, particularly for local indigenous communities. The third proposal is that the Government should work with stakeholders to create internationally recognised sustainability criteria that are credible, consistent and independently certifiable. Fourthly, trade regulations and barriers should be reviewed so as to promote certified biofuels as a means of reducing greenhouse gas emissions and promoting economic development. Biofuels classified as agricultural goods are subject to high and sometimes punitive duty when exported into the US or EU, as well as other major markets. That distorts the market, stifles economic growth in developing countries, and perversely rewards those producing fuels that contribute to greater carbon emissions. It must stop. Finally, considerable investment is required into research and development of the next generation of biofuels to improve the quality of feedstocks, into research to reconcile anomalies between the end of waste directive and the environmental permitting regulations that govern the treatment of the biofuel manufactured from waste, and into research to develop soft cellulose-derived fuels and to improve the efficiency of conversion. That will require substantial investment. How much will the Government commit? I am confident that my hon. Friend the Minister will agree privately with all five points in his own mind. If he can formally agree with all five in his speech, I shall think that the future for biofuels and the prospects for our avoiding dangerous climate change have come a little closer to being reconciled with feeding an expanding global population.