Confusion reigns over carbon footprints

Courtney bus adverts claim running on pure plant oil has resulted in an 80 per cent lower carbon footprint, well ahead of a Government target of 60 per cent by 2050.

It is good that Courtney use plant oil for it has advantages over normal diesel but unfortunately reducing carbon footprints is not one of them. Plant oil and the refined bio-diesel the EU insists we use to combat climate change are made from crops that grow annually and are said to be ‘renewable’.

Diesel from crude oil is from plants that grew millions of years ago and is not ‘renewable’ but carbon emissions are more or less the same and some claim bio-fuel emissions are higher.

Politicians promote this confusion, for climate change provides a cover for new taxes and it hides the key reason for bio-fuels and wind farms as oil and gas become scarce.

But growing bio-fuels reduces food supply. This questions the benefits of bio-mass and the need for more roads, airport runways, people, eco-towns, etc and some policies already face u-turns.

JOHN ALLISON
Clarefield Drive
Pinkneys Green