Ranking wrangling

will consist of biofuels rather than conventional petrol or diesel by 2020. But this component of the Commission's goals is just one that has been causing concern for researchers. In the face of rapidly rising demand for crops to be used as food, and growing worries about the true environmental benefit of some potential biofuels, concerns have been raised about this EU target. Stavros Dimas, the EU environment commissioner, said a European target to boost biofuel production risked causing more damage than Brussels realised. Europe had already pledged that biofuels, such as bioethanol and biodiesel, will make up to 10 per cent of transport fuel by 2020. Biofuel enthusiasts argue that they can reduce greenhouse gas emissions, but a number of studies have raised doubts about the green credentials of many of the leading candidates, such as palm oil and ethanol made from corn. Critics say biofuels compete with staple food crops for land and vast areas of tropical rainforest are cleared to grow them. Dimas told the BBC in an interview: " We have seen the environmental problems caused by biofuels and also the social problems are bigger than we thought they were. " He said the EU would " move carefully " on the issue. " We have the criteria for sustainability, including social and environmental issues, because there are some benefits from biofuels. " In a separate report, the Royal Society in the UK said that the government needed to rethink its biofuel policy. The society warned that the renewable transport fuel obligation, which comes into effect in April and calls for a 5 per cent biofuel use within two years, would not necessarily reduce carbon emissions. " Biofuels risk failing to deliver significant reductions in greenhouse gas emissions from transport and could even be environmentally damaging unless the government puts the right policies in place, " the society warned. John Pickett, who chaired the study, said: " In designing policies and incentives to encourage investment in, and the use of, biofuels it is important to remember that one biofuel is not the same as another. The greenhouse gas savings of each depends on how crops are grown and cultivated and converted and how fuel is used. So, indiscriminately increasing the amount of biofuels we are using may not automatically lead to the best reduction in emissions. " A UK parliamentary committee last month went further and …