Bio Fuels: Rash claims, poor fuel efficiency likely to stymie ethanol in Europe - Neil Winton
Europe's car manufacturers, led by Saab and closely followed by Ford, are endangering their credibility with buyers as they exaggerate the environmental benefits of ethanol and hide its disadvantages in a desperate scramble to catch up with the need to appear green.
After soft-pedaling the problem for years, Europe's automotive manufacturers have been caught out by a sudden sea change in public opinion, which now wants more attention paid to the need to conserve fuel and protect the environment.
Skepticism on biofuels is coming from some unlikely sources, including global warming activists like the Brussels-based European Federation for Transport and the Environment. "We have a series of concerns about biofuels, and there are signs that policy makers are now realizing that they are not a straightforward solution," said Dudley Curtis, communications officer for Transport & Environment. He points out that a jump in the cost of some staple food in Mexico recently caused riots because U.S. demand for corn to make ethanol squeezed out crops for food.
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