Campaigners protest over new biofuels legislation
Group targets Aberdeen BP station in bid to make voices heard over policy
Published:
ENVIRONMENTAL campaigners staged a protest against biofuels outside a petrol station in Aberdeen last night.
Members of the Aberdeen Campaign Against Climate Change group waved placards outside the BP petrol station in Riverside Drive in an attempt to make drivers boycott the station.
The protest was a reaction to the introduction of new government legislation, called the Renewable Transport Fuel Obligation (RTFO).
The legislation makes the blending of biofuels into transport fuels compulsory.
The environmentalists are concerned that rainforests will be knocked down to make way for plantations for biofuel production.
Campaigner Almuth Ernsting said: “We are protesting against BP, because they have been very influential in helping shape government policy on biofuels.
“They have also been investing in wheat refineries. Burning wheat for fuel when we’ve already got a global shortage pushes up the cost of wheat, which is translating into starvation. We want drivers to resist the government’s policy. It’s leaving drivers without a choice.”
Fellow campaigner Alan Fleming said: “Forests are essential climate regulators and it has been shown that biofuel production causes greater global warming emissions than the equivalent for fossil fuels.”
Groups in Glasgow, Edinburgh, London, Bristol, Leeds and Norwich also staged protests yesterday.
The campaigners are also holding a further protest on Union Street, Aberdeen, at 10.30am on Saturday.
