FROM today (April 15) all petrol sold in Britain must contain a small amount of biofuel – but the decision is already under attack from conservationists who feel that the rush to develop these fuels could do more harm to the environment than good.

The Renewable Transport Fuel Obligation (RTFO) is Whitehall jargon for the new law which forces the major petroleum companies to add some 2% of biofuels to their petrol as part of the Government’s drive to reduce carbon emissions.

But with food prices rocketing around the world, partially caused by farmers switching production from wheat to biofuel crops, there is growing alarm that the measure will be counter productive.

In the Third World, hundreds of thousands of acres of rain forest, savannah and other fragile habitats are being cleared to make way for biofuel production.

And here in the UK, the country’s biggest conservation charity, the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, chose the launch day to issue a statement claiming the rush for bio-fuels was actually “driving climate change.”

The statement goes on: “Campaign groups fear the over-hasty push for biofuels will accelerate climate change and habitat loss worldwide, cause severe damage to soil and water and the loss of wildlife.

“The government has just commissioned a review of the impacts of biofuels, which should expose some of the hazards of biofuel production. But bizarrely, the RTFO comes into force before its findings are known.”

Even when the review is completed, it will not take into account any damage to the environment or food production worldwide, says the RSPB.