Biofuel council hits brick wall

Last Modified: 11 Nov 2007
By: Julian Rush

A London council which is planning to run its entire fleet on biofuels has hit a brick wall of government policy and market forces.

The delay to Richmond council's local solution to a global problem is just the latest set-back to the growing international demand for biofuels.

When the UN's Special Representative on Food and Hunger recently warned the growing demand for biofuels in industrialised countries threatened the food supplies of poorer nations, he was one of a number of people voicing concerns over the environmental sustainability of growing crops for fuel.

But sustainable biofuels are possible, as the council, which has just completed trials of a biodiesel made entirely from used cooking oil, is hoping to prove.

However, as our Science Correspondent, Julian Rush, reveals in this exclusive report, all is not going according to plan...