'We can grow our fuel in Yorkshire' (From Gazette & Herald)

'We can grow our fuel in Yorkshire'

FARMED fuels from the fields of Yorkshire could make a "massive contribution to the nation's energy needs", says Dorothy Fairburn, regional director of the Country Land & Business Association (CLA).

But, she says, the Government's energy white paper seems to have forgotten this enormous potential.

"Only days after Environment Minister Michael Meacher visited a farm near Wetherby and saw willow being harvested there for an up-and-running office complex's heating system, there's little mention of energy crops for biomass, biodiesel and bioethanol.

"Farmed fuels are viable and are in use already in Britain but not to the extent they are in the USA - where biofuel is mainstream - and Germany, where biofuel is duty-free.

"In this country, Yorkshire is leading the way in growing energy crops such as oilseed rape, wheat, sugar beet and maize. More willow has been grown in the region for biofuel than anywhere else in the UK - more than 1,300 hectares - and the only harvesting machine in the northern hemisphere was in action here last week.

"There's much talk of wind, wave and nuclear power, but the CLA believes that the rural economy can play a key role in the reduction of greenhouse gasses. The white paper is full of aspirations and warm words. This is not enough: all forms of renewable energy are required now."

Updated: 09:52 Wednesday, February 26, 2003