Norwich Union ethical fund manager is cool on biofuels

The team that manages Norwich Union’s Sustainable Future funds believes the investment case for biofuels is overstated. Biofuels are promoted as an answer to climate change and energy security and governments around the world are promoting their use:EU has ambitious targets to increase the use of biofuels in transport. Political support in the US for biofuels is increasing.Gordon Brown’s 2007 Budget announced a package of measure to support the use of biofuels. But:There is evidence that some biofuels could be making matters worse by adding to the man-made emissions of carbon dioxide that they are supposed to curb. There are environmental concerns about the way the feed stocks for some biofuels are grown as forests in Brazil and Malaysia are being cleared to grow them;Biofuels companies are exposed to volatile commodity prices and tend to be heavily dependent on political support. Peter Michaelis, manager of the Norwich Union UK Ethical fund, said. “Biofuels were once hailed as an answer to both climate change and energy security but it has become clear that they are not without their problems. For the time being, we are focusing our investment activity on other areas providing solutions to climate change, such as wind, solar, fuel cells, and technology for energy efficiency. Image source: asiacleantech.wordpress.com. > Continue.

News selected by Covalence | Country: Global | Company: Norwich Union | Source: Aviva