Environmental concerns scupper W4B’s second project

25/02/2010 (TCE Today) - A UK BIOFUEL plant has been refused planning permission over worries that the palm oil powering it would increase deforestation abroad.

Bristol City Council planning committee voted 6-2 against W4B Renewable Energy’s plan to build a 50 MW power plant after it received more than 1000 written objections.

Farmers in the likes of Malaysia are cutting down and replacing rainforests with palm plantations because of the lucrative oil they produce. Locals are worried that approving the plant will increase demand for palm oil and lead to further deforestation.

There are also concerns that biofuels cause more emissions per unit of energy than the fossil fuels they replace. Scientists are trying to investigate how the two compare by analysing their entire lifecycles – considering the emissions that result from land use change and transportation of biofuels from aboard.

W4B had also planned to power the plant with Jatropha oil, which hit the headlines in 2009 when a study concluded that it takes 20,000 l of water to produce 1 l of fuel. W4B received planning permission for an identically-fuelled though smaller 17.8 MW plant in Portland, Dorest.   

According to reports, Bristol councillors were asked to permit or reject the project based solely on planning considerations. If W4B appeals the decision the councillors will be asked to justify their decision.

W4B was unreachable for comment.