Biofuel Crops seen Aiding Scottish Cereals Sector
Date: 28-Jun-05
Country: SCOTLAND
Author: Ian MacKenzie
"The cereal sector is under a great deal of pressure, and yet at the same time there is a huge opportunity in the production of...biofuels," Kinnaird told Reuters in a weekend interview at the Royal Highland Show.
Rapeseed would be best suited for biofuels in Scotland, he said, although other crops such as sugar beet also had potential.
"We've had a lot of discussion with the biofuel industry and the fuel industry, and we've got to the stage where all we're doing is talking. We have to take the next stage forward, and there has to be a bit (more) of a commitment by government," he added.
"It's a massive opportunity to be actually able to produce something in this country that allows farmers to make a reasonable living...Why import biofuels from other countries when it can be produced on your doorstep?"
Scotland is already home to one of Britain's newest biodiesel plants, but rather than process rapeseed or sugar beet, it turns cooking oil and animal fats into the renewable fuel for cars.
The 15-million-pound ($27 million) plant near Motherwell was brought onstream earlier this year by its owners, privately-held Argent Energy.
Demand for biodiesel grew sharply last year in Europe as production capacity rose sharply thanks to EU measures aimed at reducing the bloc's dependence on fossil fuel imports and cutting greenhouse gas emissions.
However, progress in some countries, including Britain, has been slow, with many in the fledgling sector complaining of poor government support, in particular on tax breaks.
A European Union directive requires that two percent of all diesel fuel consumed in the EU must be bio-degradable by 2005, rising to 5.75 percent by 2010.
($US1=0.5468 British Pounds)
