Who Supports Biofuels (bio-ethanol etc)

is it the Greenies?
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/8559661.stm

Environmentalists fear it is - and their latest manoeuvre to stem the biofuel tide is a legal action to force the European Commission to publish thousands of pages of evidence of the impacts of plant fuels on the environment.
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Green campaigners want to see all the background research immediately because they believe that some of the papers already confirm that biofuels may do more harm than good.
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The environmentalists say they suspect that the Commission's analysis contains explosive evidence that could blow the EU's biofuels strategy apart
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Green groups have also been angered by a separate EU policy statement leaked to BBC News. They say it could grant plantations of palm oil the same status as natural rainforests.
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Kenneth Richter from Friends of the Earth said: "This is absolutely appalling - they are bending over backwards to support the palm oil industry. To equate a palm oil plantation in the same category as a rainforest is dishonest and outrageous." When I queried the Commission about this policy, they declined to comment.
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But environmentalists point out that the E4tech study doesn't even attempt to factor in the other potentially malign side-effects of fuel crops displacing food crops.
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http://www.vivergofuels.com/web/about
Vivergo Fuels

Who are the backers? Greenies again?
BP is one of the world's largest energy companies, offering expertise in fuels technology and access to major fuel markets.

British Sugar offers experience across the agricultural value chain, links to feedstock supply, and co-product expertise.

DuPont holds expertise in biotechnology and bio-manufacturing capabilities.

Looks like misguided government policies and Oil industries to me

However, from Vivergo web site it is interesting to note:

i.e. its not as bad as it could be. The protein is utilised for food production only the starch is brewed for ethanol
Green Peace 2007


Biofuels: green dream or climate change nightmare?

“As you may have already seen, along with WWF, the RSPB, Friends of the Earth and enoughsenough.org, we’ve placed an advert in several of today’s papers warning the government about the environmental risks of biofuels as an alternative to petrol and diesel. ”

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Friends of the Earth – 2007

Biofuels – a big green con?

“The UK’s largest environmental groups have launched an advertising campaign attacking environmentally destructive ‘biofuels’.”

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Guardian – 2008

Biofuel farms make CO2 emissions worse

“Transforming ecosystems into farms for biofuel crops will increase global warming and result in net increases in carbon emissions, according to a study. ”

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Guardian – 2011

Bristol’s biofuels plant must be refused planning permission

“Burning biofuels in cars is mad enough, as it causes more environmental destruction – in terms of both carbon emissions and the loss of habitats – than petroleum. I’ve been campaigning against it since 2004. ”

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Spiegel – 2011

Is Environmentalism Really Working?

“And Germans have been unusually stubborn about the biofuel E10 — the name refers to the 10 percent ethanol admixture……Many haven’t yet fully realized that E10 is an ecological swindle. People who want to help the environment shouldn’t use it. Nine large European environmental associations recently conducted a joint study which concluded that the bottom line impact of the fuel on the environment is negative…….A single full tank of bio-ethanol uses up as much grain as an adult can eat in a whole year.”