Paddy Tipping backs biofuels

Paddy Tipping has launched a Game Conservancy Trust scheme to create bio fuel through woodland management as detailed here. (Dec 04 - bit late, but I've only just found the page).

Dr. Alastair Leake, project manager at Loddington explains:

“The timber from our woodland is turned into wood chips which are then fed directly into the feed hopper of the new boiler".

Bio fuels are 'carbon neutral' and do not contribute to global warming. Perhaps more importantly they are a sustainable energy source. Currently the UK is highly dependent on natural gas for both heating and electricity. Natural gas, however is rapidly running out - global production is likely to peak within 20 years, and from that point on, everyone will have to start cutting back. North Sea gas production is falling fast, so the UK will become dependent on imported gas at rocketing prices. To make matters worse, the main contributor to the UK reducing its CO2 emissions has been a switch from coal to gas fired power stations. As gas runs out, coal use and therefore emissions are likely to increase unless there has been a very radical move to renewables such as biofuels - (which there is currently no sign of).

It is good that Paddy Tipping recognises that we need to be considerably more pro-active about improving energy sources. He has also spoken on the topic in the Commons.

Do we really want, by 2020, 70 per cent. of our electricity to be generated from gas, 90 per cent. of which will be imported? That would be a crazy situation to work ourselves into.

Personally I would question whether it will be possible to import enough gas to supply 63% of our electricity, even if we wanted to - because we won't be the only country desperate for energy. I think Paddy is quite right to refer to UK coal as an energy reserve - it is likely that we will need every energy resource we can lay our hands on, and permitting UK Coal to shut down pits for short term financial reasons is not in our national interest.