By Renewable Energy Focus staff

The article by Professor Joyce Tait, Chair of the Nuffield Council on Bioethics Working Party on Biofuels, and Scientific Advisor to the Innogen Centre at Edinburgh University, looks at ethical principles surrounding biofuels production including the protection of human rights, environmental sustainability, greenhouse gas reduction and fair trade.

Tait says: “Biofuels are one of the only renewable alternatives we have for transport fuels such as petrol and diesel, but current policies and targets that encourage their uptake have backfired badly. The rapid expansion of biofuels production in the developing world has lead to problems such as deforestation and the displacement of indigenous people. We want a more sophisticated strategy that considers the wider consequence of biofuel production.”