National Express has suspended a biodiesel trial at its UK bus operations after consulting green groups, The Guardian reports.
Richard Bowker, National Express chief executive, said the coach, bus and rail group would continue to look at such initiatives, but its biofuel study underlined that “what appears to be the green option may not actually be green after all.”
National Express added that a number of scientific studies showed the benefits of biofuels were “frequently exaggerated” and carbon emissions could be higher than from traditional oil because of the intensive farming methods behind its manufacture.
Virgin Trains and Virgin Atlantic are among the most high-profile backers of the alternative energy source. A spokesman for Virgin Trains said the company was continuing with a biodiesel trial on one of its Voyager trains.