German biofuel consumption to increase in 2017 but challenges lie ahead

In Germany, biofuels are set to benefit from the country’s ‘climate protection rate’ that will raise to 4% in 2017 from 3.5% in 2016, meaning oil companies will have to reduce the greenhouse gas emissions of the fuels they sell by 4%. One such way to do so is to blend with ethanol or biodiesel. The biodiesel industry worries that jumping straight to 6% in 2020 from the current 4% will have too much of an impact on the economy and should instead have a smoother transition.