Germany's government is considering proposals to phase out the use of biofuels produced from food or animal feed by 2030, germany's biofuels industry association (VDB) reported this week. The entity warned that the measure could increase carbon emissions.

German Environment Minister Steffi Lemke said on January 17 that she will soon send proposals to the cabinet to withdraw the use of agricultural biofuels to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

Steffi had previously said in May 2022 that he wanted to move the country away from crop-based biofuels by stepping up the use of biofuels produced from waste, waste and used edible oils.

German Agriculture Minister Cem Oezdemir, both Green Party members in the current ruling coalition, have called in the past for an end to food crops in biofuel production, saying food is too valuable to be used in fuel production.

No food in biofuel production? Entity complains

The VDB, however, said preliminary proposals to reduce the use of biofuels of agricultural origin would have the opposite effect. According to the association, this would mean an increase in carbon dioxide emissions in Germany's transport by about 32 million tonnes by 2030.

According to Germany's climate protection law, only 85 million tons of CO2 can be emitted by transport by 2030. In 2021, Germany's transport sector issued about 148 million tons of CO2, according to data from the environment ministry.

Germany's program to reduce greenhouse gases includes the use of a mixture of biofuels, including biodiesel and ethanol, with diesel and gasoline to reduce emissions from road vehicles.

Oil companies have a goal of reducing greenhouse gases that they partially achieve with biodiesel, often made from rapeseed oil or residual vegetable oils and ethanol sometimes produced from grains or sugar. The proposals would promote the use of more fossil fuels in road transport, said VDB CEO Elmar Baumann.

Devaluation of rapeseed

Just over 500,000 hectares of Germany's total winter rapearea of 1.07 million hectares are used most years for biodiesel. Reports of a gradual elimination of crops for biofuel production have caused a drop in rapeseed prices in the European Union in recent days.

Germany has previously announced that it will ban the use of palm oil in biofuel production from 2023. The information is from Reuters news agency.

Source: Canal Rural