Don’t we need biofuels to reduce our dependency on oil?
Biofuels can only replace a tiny fraction of rich country oil consumption – even if we converted all the edible oils in the world to biodiesel, this would only displace about 10% of fossil diesel use. Current biofuels are simply complements to, rather than replacements for, fossil fuels – and subject to new risks of crop failure and disease. Far cheaper and safer policy measures exist to reduce dependency on foreign oil – policies to reduce demand for transport fuel, such as promotion of efficient cars, investment in public transport and so on can reduce oil imports and carbon emissions far more effectively.
