Europe: Ukraine to pass biofuels legislation; German biofuels industry parades a coffin to symbolize the state of the industry

Our European correspondents report that Technische Universität Hamburg-Harburg (TUHH) is well advanced on a project to transform glycerine into biogas and other high value products, and on a protest rally in Germany attended by over 100 biodiesel industry members, which included a coffin to simulate the state of the German biodiesel industry.

Also, reports have emerged that the Ukraine will pass legislation in 2008 that will support the establishment of a canola oil-based biodiesel industry. Full details are available in the most recent BBK newsletter from Germany, which is available for €65 per year.

In Germany earlier this month, the executive director of BBK, the German renewable fuels association, said that the German biodiesel industry is producing at only 10 percent of capacity, down from 20 percent in November, and that the industry is in a state of collapse. Peter Scrum, in an interview with Reuters, said that production is being continued only by larger firms. Recently Schrum accused the Finance Minister of trying to “crush us”, as tension erupts between supporters of the biofuels industry among Christian Democrats are pitted against anti-biofuels CD’s and the Social Democratic Party.

The limited German production is primarily for export, following a 60 percent tax hike on biodiesel that has halted sales of biodiesel at German petrol stations.

In Germany, die Welt recebtly reported that hundreds of German biodiesel makers are on the brink of bankruptcy due to increased German taxes on biofuels. The report said that the largest biofuels companies, Verbio AG, Petrotec AG and Biopetrol AG, would survive by cutting back production to service the German B5 mandate, but that the market for B100 has collapsed due to price hikes.

Free Subscription to the Daily Biofuels Digest e-newsletter

Related Stories

German biodiesel industry, at 60 percent of capacity, faces more shutdowns as biofuel taxes are hiked

In Germany, increased biodiesel taxes have already reduced German production down to 3 million tons annually, out of a total capacity of five million tons. The German biofuels industry association VDB...

Europe’s maximum biofuel production capacity only 20 percent of its energy needs, analyst says

In Europe, the Director of Biofuels Projects at Teréos told Ethanol Statistics that Europe would not be able to produce more than 20 percent of its own fuel needs from biomass. Bernard Chaud said t...

Today in Biofuels: 100,000 protesters jam Mexico City over corn tariffs; British Columbia aims for zero carbon by 2016; Iowa gets $12.7 billion biofuel windfall

Top Story: The National Biodiesel Conference and Expo will kickoff this weekend and continue throughout next week in Orlando. Last year's conference attracted more than 3,800 attendees, and this ye...

10 more German biodiesel fims in bankruptcy: industry to go from 50 companies to 10, says association

In Germany, biofuel industry association VDB said that ten German biodiesel firms have been forced into bankruptcy by increases in biodiesel taxes to 21 cents per liter, and only 10 out of more than 5...

German trade association says ethanol industry needs protection against Brazilian ethanol

In Germany, the CEO of the VDB, a biofuel trade association, has called on the German government to prevent cheap Brazilian ethanol from entering the German market, saying that German firms could not ...

Ukraine to introduce new biofuels incentives and credits

In the Ukraine, prime minister Julia Timoshenko said that she would introduce a new law to provide tax benefits and incentives for canola-based biodiesel and other unnamed biofuel feedstocks.  She sa...