The goverment has denied that its biofuels policy appears to be “muddled and unfocused”.
It also refuses to accept a charge that failure to nominate one department to lead on biofuels has been the prime reason for slow progress on the issue.
The government’s comments are a response to recommendations in the food and rural affairs committee’s “Biofuels” report, published last November.
One of the committee’s recommendations was for the government to make “firm decisions quickly” in setting targets under the EU biofuels directive to enable farmers and processors to plant crops and build facilities in time to meet them.
The goverment said the department of transport would hold consultation in the spring on plans to implement the directive.