26/10/2025
News from the farm: the biodiesel fantasy
In 2006, as we began seriously contemplating the reality of sustainability at Riverford, I employed an engineering graduate from the University of Exeter to ensure our policies were led by facts rather than fictional headlines. Another veg box delivery company had converted their vans to biodiesel and I wondered if we should be doing the same. After less than a week he came back with a firm ‘no’: “biodiesel seldom delivered a net carbon benefit and often contributed to deforestation and biodiversity loss by driving the market for palm oil”. We decided to focus on electric vans instead – 20 years later, 68% of our vans are electric, held back by vehicle range, availability, and gaps in the charging network.
Earlier this month, the respected think tank, Transport and Environment, released a study arguing that biofuels add significantly to world emissions because they cause ‘indirect land clearance and deforestation’ (transportenvironment.org/ articles). The situation is set to get even worse with plans to introduce “Sustainable Aviation Fuel” (SAF) – made from biomass or waste (including used cooking oil) and intended to replace fossil fuel-based kerosene. The problem? SAF represents less than 0.05% of total EU aviation fuel use; the 99%+ shortfall comes from the corrupt trade in virgin palm oil, leading to further rainforest destruction.
Two decades after doing our research, 30% of maize grown in the UK (and 40% in the US) will still be used to make biofuel or to generate electricity in AD (anaerobic digestion) plants that we’re all subsidising at the pump, through our energy bills and taxes. Even madder – a significant part of the UK crop is grown on the fens where ploughing releases huge amounts of CO2 from the oxidising peat, resulting in emissions that are three times higher than burning oil. Why are we subsidising biofuels that, far from fighting climate change, are contributing to it?
I’m all for green legislation, taxation, and subsidies (in a corrupt marketplace, I believe they’re our only hope) but we urgently need policies based on facts, not commercially driven fantasies and lobbying. We’re wasting time we don’t have and money that would be better spent on wind, solar, and energy storage. But perhaps what we need most of all is to accept that our appetite for ‘stuff’ (including travel) is incompatible with sustainability.
➡️ News from the farm: Fuelling the fire – the biodiesel fantasy - Wicked Leeks
📷 Emma Stoner
