Oil giant ExxonMobil has been rapped by the UK's advertising watchdog for claiming research into algae-based biofuels could help counter climate change.
A TV advert for the multi-national company featured a scientist talking about researching algae as a source of biofuel. In the ad, h said, "In using algae to form biofuels, we're not competing with the food supply, and they absorb CO2, so they help solve the greenhouse problem as well."
But the advert has now been banned after the UK's ad watchdog, the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA), ruled the claim was exaggerated and misleading.
The decision was made after the ASA received a complaint that the ad misleadingly implied that the biofuel technology would reduce CO2 levels.
In its response, ExxonMobil UK said one of the advantages associated with second generation biofuels like algae, was their potential to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by partial replacement of conventional transport fuels derived from hydrocarbons.
It claimed lifecycle analysis showed that using second generation biofuels resulted in lower greenhouse gas emissions compared to conventional fuels. The company said this was because biofuel feedstocks absorbed CO2 from the atmosphere and therefore the CO2 emitted during their combustion did not contribute to additional CO2 emissions.
The company's advertising chiefs pointed out that the ad stated, "Algae could be converted into biofuels that we could someday run our cars on" and "We're making a big commitment to finding out just how much algae can help meet the fuel demands of the world".
They claimed the ad made clear that the technology was still being developed and in this context, viewers would understand the claim "In using algae to form biofuels, we're not competing with the food supply, and they absorb CO2, so they help solve the greenhouse problem as well", related to what the advertisers hoped the technology would achieve.
In its assessment, the ASA noted the ad referred to "unlocking the potential in algae" and considered it had made clear it was an emerging technology.
But the regulator added: “Nonetheless we considered the ad made an objective claim that algae, if developed as a source of biofuel, would help solve the greenhouse problem. We noted that, by absorbing CO2 from the atmosphere and then re-releasing this CO2 when combusted, the technology would not add new greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. Because of this we considered the technology could have a mitigation benefit. We noted the reports submitted by EM and acknowledged that many stabilisation scenarios highlighted the importance of reducing greenhouse gas emissions as part of tackling the greenhouse problem.
“We also noted that the ad stated 'In using algae to form biofuels, were not competing with the food supply, and they absorb CO2, so they help solve the greenhouse problem as well'. We considered that viewers would infer from this that it was because of the absorption of CO2 from the atmosphere that using algae to form biofuels helped 'solve the greenhouse problem', by acting as a carbon sink.
“We considered this claim went beyond stating the mitigation benefit. Because we understood that any CO2 absorbed by the feedstocks would eventually be re-released into the atmosphere, we concluded that the ad overstated the technology's total environmental impact and was therefore misleading.”
The ASA ruled the ad breached the rules on the grounds of misleading advertising claims , substantiation and environmental claims and must not be broadcast again in the UK.
Stafford "Doc" Williamson, Phoenix, Arizona, USA around 1 year, 2 months ago