Biofuelwatch: Last chance to stop UK palm oil electricity subsidies

[mark at tlio.org.uk]

 From Biofuelwatch

Biofuelwatch: Last chance to stop UK palm oil electricity subsidies

Dear friends,

Please write to your MP today with a new Parliamentary Briefing and 
urge him or her to call on the Department for Energy and Climate 
Change to drop their plans for long-term subsidies for biofuel/palm 
oil electricity

During February, the Department on Energy and Climate Change (DECC) 
will announce their final plans for renewable electricity subsidies, 
called Renewable Obligation Certificates (ROCs).  So far, they have 
proposed to guarantee long-term subsidies to power stations burning 
biofuels (bioliquids).  Past experience in Germany, the Netherlands 
and Italy has shown that biofuel power stations will almost always 
burn palm oil because this is by far the cheapest vegetable oil.  DECC 
wants to cap the amount of subsidies for electricity from biofuels, 
but that cap would be so high that it could lead to the UK's total 
palm oil imports being doubled, just to supply power stations.

The only way of stopping subsidies for palm oil is to stop subsidies 
for all electricity from biofuels. This is what the Netherlands and 
Germany have done and the UK government must do the same.

Please see www.youtube.com/watch?v=GYEl5aPtXDg  for a short video 
produced by the Sumatran Orangutan Society that shows how important 
this action is!

To download the briefing for MPs and to find more details on how to 
write and send it to your MP, please go to 
www.biofuelwatch.org.uk/2013/palm-oil-rocs-briefing/ .  The briefing 
was put together by Sumatran Orangutan Society, Friends of the Earth, 
ActionAid UK, Biofuelwatch, Action for Sustainable Energy for Bristol 
and No Oil Palm Energy.

Please help by sharing this alert widely. Many thanks for your help!

Best regards,

Almuth Ernsting
Biofuelwatch
biofuelwatch at ymail.com