Biofuels Digest » Germany

UFOP says German biodiesel tax exemption should be restored

Jim Lane — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 11:44:24 +0000

In Germany, UFOP has called on the German government to reinstate the tax exemption for biodiesel. “Germany should be the pacemaker for biodiesel and plant oil fuel, not only in capacity development terms but also – and particular – in fuel systems research in this area also in future. Plant oil fuel and biodiesel research should therefore also be a fundamental element of the future orientation of the Biomass Action Plan,” the group said.

German ethanol production soars 61% in first half of 2009; biodiesel slumps

Jim Lane — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 10:54:42 +0000

In Germany, ethanol consumption increased 61% in the first half of 2009, to 126 million gallons, according to the German Office of Economics and Export Control. Ethanol production jumped 50 percent to 73 million gallons, though E85 only accounted for 3.5 percent of sales. Verbio reported an increase of 50 percent in ethanol production.

Meanwhile, the German Federal Office of Transportation reported that biodiesel consumption continued to drop in 2008/09, and in Saxony-Anhalt, the fall off in biodiesel production was 41 percent, year on year, and capacity utilization for biodiesel was at 34 percent.

German election to cause reductions in renewable energy subsidies?

Jim Lane — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 10:55:16 +0000

In Germany, with a change in the structure of the federal government imminent after election results made a center-right coalition of the Free Democrats and the Christian Democrats all but inevitable, a report was filed in Environmental Finance that the country will be poised to reduce its EEG, the national renewable energy subsidy law that provided large feed in tariffs for solar and other technologies.

In Germany, solar power is paid $0.36-$0.62 per KWh and wind energy plants have received $0.134. Analysts are confirming that feed in tariffs and subsidies may be reduced at a faster pace under the new coalition than the previous government, but warned that the unhappy experience with the German biodiesel, where a drop in subsidies resulted in more than half of biodiesel plants in the country going idle or out of business, would cause the government to go slow in scaling back on the subsidy program.

German researchers target winter sugar beet as biofuel feedstock

Jim Lane — Tue, 08 Sep 2009 10:56:15 +0000

In Germany, researchers from Christian-Albrecht University in Kiel have commenced a project, titled “Bioenergy 2021: winter sugar beet as energy crop”, to improve breeding of winter sugar beet as a biofuel feedstock.

The Institute of Plant Production and Plant Breeding said that, so far, the winter sugar beet is producing up to 30 percent more biomass, and contains more sugar, than conventional sugar beet, due to a longer growing season.

Germany’s Karlsruhe Institute of Technology to form “Algae Platform” group; researching extraction, light

Jim Lane — Tue, 25 Aug 2009 10:40:19 +0000

In Germany, the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology announced the development of a plate reactor for optimum light management in microalgae cultivation. KIT researcher Dr. Georg Müller, head of this institute’s Pulsed Power Technology Division also detailed research in using electric pulsed treatment to extract oil from algae biomass. KIT said it would establish a KIT “Algae Platform” for energy production from microalgae, and construct both pilot and demonstration-scale facilities on the campus.

Germany’s upper house rejects reduction in biofuels targets for 2009

Jim Lane — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 10:53:07 +0000

In Germany, the federal parliament’s upper house voted to reject the government’s proposed reduction of the 2009 biofuel blending targets from 6.25 percent to 5.25 percent. the amount of biofuel that should be mixed with fossil fuels from 6.25% to 5.25% this year.

The upper house also rejected a plan to further increase taxes on the renewable fuel. “We greatly welcome the decision as the blending market is critical for the future of the industry,” a spokesman for the German Biofuels Industry Association said. Legislators had feared that cutting targets would further stress industrial investments made in biofuels and reduce demand for agricultural production.

The German biodiesel industry has dropped 40 percent in production since the federal government dropped a favorable tax credit for biodiesel. German biodiesel sales are projected to drop to 200,000 tonnes in 2009, down from 1.8 million tonnes in 2007.

The lower house can make the proposed reduction into law by passing the proposal once again.

German ethanol production up 46 percent in 2008 on sugar beet surge

Jim Lane — Thu, 19 Feb 2009 12:16:58 +0000

In Germany, the national bioethanol association BDBe reported that German ethanol production increased 46 percent in 2008 to 458,394 tons, of which 61 percent came from grains. The association notes that sugar beets, which accounted for 8 percent of production volume in 2007, jumped to a 36 percent share in 2008, and allowed the production volume of ethanol to expand without increasing grain usage by ethanol producers.

German researchers identify new enzyme to convert xylose to ethanol in a single step; eliminates costly two-step process for cellulosic ethanol

Jim Lane — Thu, 19 Feb 2009 11:46:25 +0000

In Germany, researchers at Goethe-University Frankfurt have developed a new process to convert xylose to ethanol by genetically modifying yeasts that previously would only convert glucose. The researchers discovered a new bacterial enzyme and inserted it into yeast cells. The research, which is published in Applied Environmental Microbiology, demonstrates that xylose can be converted in a single step, compared to a previous process which required that the xylose, or waste sugar, be first converted into glucose before yeast fermentation could occur.

International Renewable Energy Agency founded in Germany with 75 member nations; data gathering, policy advocacy among central missions

Jim Lane — Thu, 29 Jan 2009 11:29:22 +0000

In Germany, the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) was officially founded this week in Bonn, with 75 nations joining the new agency, which its backers say will be a counterbalance to the International Energy Agency and the International Atomic Energy Agency that are dominated by industrialized western democracies.

According to the new organization, IRENA will develop comprehensive solutions, such as fostering all types of renewable energy, and consider various renewable energy policies on the local, regional, and national level. Additionally, IRENA will consider the specific environmental, economic and socio-cultural conditions. Lastly, it will involve stakeholders from the energy industry, academia, institutions and civil society.

US biodiesel producers capture 38 percent market share in UK; UK producers call for regulations, Germany contemplates US biodiesel ban

Jim Lane — Wed, 21 Jan 2009 11:45:27 +0000

US B99 biodiesel exports to the UK have climbed, according to new figures from the European Biodiesel Board. The EBB is reporting that 38 percent of UK biodiesel came from the US, prompting the EBB to issue a new call for a regulatory system to combat subsidized biodiesel.

US biodiesel receives a 99 cent blenders credit when it is shipped in B99 concentration, or $300 per tonne.

The German government is considering legislation to outlaw US imports of biodiesel, which would circumvent WTO rules against such as embargo by setting unreachable greenhouse gas emission targets for soy and palm oil-based biodiesel.