Biodiesel in Germany

This section contains resources for Biodiesel status and trends in Germany. Do let us know (narsi at esource dot in) if you have a resource that fits in this section.

·         Clean Air Initiative – Biodiesel in Germany - Germany has some 82 million inhabitants, who consume on the order of 27 million tons of diesel fuel annually. For the distribution of this fuel there are currently about 16,000 filling stations. In an effort to reduce the dependency on fossil fuels as well as the environmental effects of their consumption, such as greenhouse gas emissions, biodiesel has been developed as an alternative fuel for diesel engines. This fuel is now commercially available throughout Germany. The use of biodiesel in Germany is still controversial. For example, while the federal ministry of finance defends the tax exemption of biodiesel, the federal environmental agency argues that the ecological benefits (e.g. possibly lower net CO2 emissions) do not justify the disadvantages (such as additional agricultural inputs) and the expenses. Read more about the program from the web site Clean Air Initiative

·       Biodiesel Production & Marketing in Germany – Project BioBus (PDF)

·       Rapeseed Production for Biodiesel in Germany - Germany will not have the ability to provide enough domestically produced rapeseed to supply its expanding biodiesel industry.  Increases in oilseed or vegetable oil imports, and/or corresponding decreases in exports will be needed, says a Nov 2002 report. German Biodiesel Industry Expanding Rapidly - Capacity for the production of biodiesel in Germany has increased dramatically over the past years.  From 1995 to 2001, capacity increased five fold from 110,000 metric tons per year to 533,000 tons and is forecast to reach close to 1 million tons in January 2003.  Approximately one ton of vegetable oil is consumed to produce one ton of biodiesel. Germany Unable to Produce Enough Rapeseed for Biofuel – A report issued by FAS/Germany indicates that it would be difficult for Germany to meet the goal totally with biodiesel made only from domestically produced rapeseed.  By 2010, an estimated 2.6 million hectares of rapeseed would be needed to produce 3.4 million tons of biodiesel to satisfy the 5.75 percent goal.  This year, Germany harvested an estimated 1.3 million hectares of rapeseed.  Realistically, total German rapeseed area faces its natural limit at about 1.5 million hectares because of field phytosanitary (crop-rotational) reasons. Rapeseed oil is popular as a food, and the current area used for “food” use is about 900,000 hectares. This leaves 600,000 hectares potentially available, which could produce 800,000 tons of rapeseed oil and 800,000 tons of rapeseed methyl ester.  This will not be sufficient to satisfy industry needs by the end of this year.

·       Germany “Growing” Biodiesel - Germany 'growing' biodiesel - Germany is looking to messier energy sources to produce cleaner fuel, showing the world that it is possible use all-natural plant and animal products to run cars and heat homes. In a famously ecological country, innovators have backed away from belching gas guzzlers and looked to new energy sources such as gas from liquid manure, rapeseed diesel and wood-burning electric power stations, says this Jan 2005 report

·       Lurgi to Build Biodiesel Plant in Germany

·       Biodiesel Initiatives in Germany (PDF) - Background and goals - The European project PREMIA /PREMIA 2005/ is to assess the effectiveness and cost efficiency of policy measures to support the market introduction of alternative motor fuels. In this framework, for single subtasks subcontracts were established. Regarding the production and usage of biodiesel in Germany the ifeu – Institute for Energy and Environmental Research Heidelberg was charged by VITO, Belgium, to create a survey. This survey was to cover the following partial aspects: a – the current state of the legal framework including its historic development under special consideration of the product norms and standards, authorisation and taxation of blends, systematic quality checks and certifications, incentives, and support programmes, b – a description of concrete initiatives especially on biodiesel production plants and fleets using biodiesel, c – an impact assessment of biodiesel with a focus on the amount of biodiesel on the market and amount of agricultural area dedicated to biodiesel, the biodiesel potentials, its public acceptance, the continued cost to the society, environmental impacts, and other effects under consideration of the share of the actions mentioned in b. The study has been finalised on the basis of a short-term expert judgement in April and May 2005. Read the full report from here (PDF)

German consultant says palm oil biodiesel has more potential for longevity - Wolgang Rupilius, a consultant from Germany, says that biodiesel based on palm oil is more likely to stand up to certain conditions than biodiesel based on canola oil, the Malaysian National News Agency reports, but opponents of the oil fear harvesting it could seriously damage the habitat of orangutans.

Palm Oil Truth Foundation - Germany taxes biodiesel - Palm oil, wondered what the fuss is about. Find out the truth about palm oil, palm oil industry, oil palm, oil palm industry, palm oil is it unhealthy, sustainable palm oil industry, palm kernel oil, red palm oil and more vital information you need to know. The Truth about Palm Oil.

 Biodiesel in Germany - Germany has some 82 million inhabitants, who consume on the order of 27 million tons of diesel fuel annually. For the distribution of this fuel there are currently about 16,000 filling stations. In an effort to reduce the dependency on fossil fuels as well as the environmental effects of their consumption, such as greenhouse gas emissions, biodiesel has been developed as an alternative fuel for diesel engines. This fuel is now commercially available throughout Germany.

 German Biodiesel Industry Peaks, Trouble Ahead - Germany's biodiesel production capacity is set to rise to a record 5 million tons in 2007, but analysts have warned that the boom in the country's biodiesel industry is coming to an end after the industry failed to block the government from rolling back a key tax relief scheme in court this July.

 Is Germany Taxing Biodiesel to Death? - Last year's new tax on German biodiesel sent the industry into a tailspin. Now, producers are crying for help from Berlin. Politicians may be listening.

Cargill to Invest in Biodiesel Plant In Germany - LONDON - US-based Cargill said on Friday it planned to invest in a new 200,000 tonnes biodiesel plant in Mainz in Germany to complement its existing oilseed crushing and refining operations in the region.

 Germany Ethanol Manufacturers & Suppliers - Find Ethanol - Anhydrous Ethanol and more. Manufacturers and Suppliers in Germany and around the world.

 VW, Shell and Iogen to Study Producing Cellulose Ethanol in Germany - Volkswagen (VW), Shell and Iogen signed a letter of intent at the North American International Auto Show (NAIAS) 2006 recently held in Detroit, Michigan, to assess the economic feasibility of producing Cellulose ethanol in Germany. Produced by Iogen, this biofuel can be used in today's cars, reducing CO2 emissions by as much as 90 percent.

 Germany Backs Away from Biofuels - Berlin has abandoned plans to increase the percentage of ethanol in gasoline sold at the country's pumps. New projections estimate that up to 3 million cars would have been unable to run on the higher mixture.

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