Biomass Fuels and Biofuels in Germany Report Published
by Helena Tavares Kennedy (Biofuels Digest) In Germany, the Federal Office for Agriculture and Food (BLE) published their 8th annual report on the evaluation and progress of biomass fuels and biofuels in Germany, and also on the flow of goods to other countries. This Evaluation and Progress Report intends to inform both the interested public and experts on the development and progress of biofuels brought into circulation in Germany.
The BLE is the competent authority for the compilation of the annual Evaluation and Progress Report. Download the report here. READ MORE
Excerpts from UFOP:
Evaluation and Progress Report 2018
The Federal Office for Agriculture and Food (BLE) is the competent authority for the compilation of the annual Evaluation and Progress Report, which is published for the eight time. In this report BLE provides information on the use of biomass fuels and biofuels in Germany, and also on the flow of goods to other countries.This Evaluation and Progress Report intends to inform both the interested public and experts on the development and progress of biofuels brought into circulation in Germany. Download
Background data of BLE Report 2018
BLE offers an extract document with background data on biofuels source materials and their origins (by continents), emissions and emission savings of biofuels and data on biofuels whose source materials originated in Germany. Download
For the first time since the greenhouse gas reduction obligation was introduced (in 2015), the total amount of biofuels used in Germany increased to over 120,000 terajoules in the 2018 quota year. Waste and residues account for more than a third of the raw materials used for producing biofuels during the reporting year.
Please note that a change was made to the reference quantity for determining emission savings in the reporting year; until the 2017 quota year, a uniform reference value for fossil fuels (83.8 g CO2eq/MJ) was used for calculating the emission savings of all types of biofuels. This reference value applied uniformly to all further calculations: that is, first of all, the question whether a biofuel is sustainable at all; then the question as to the level of the quota applied to an individual obliged party; and finally, the question whether or not obliged parties have met their quotas. With effect
from the 2018 quota year, the 38th Ordinance for the implementation of the BundesImmissionsschutzgesetz [Federal Emissions Control Act] (38th BImSchV) provides both a new base value (94.1 g CO2eq/MJ) and new individual reference values for petrol (93.3 g CO2eq/MJ) and diesel fuels (95.1 g CO2eq/MJ). These individual reference values must be applied by the biofuels quota office in calculating whether the obliged parties have met their individual Greenhouse Gas Reduction Quotas.
We were thus faced with the decision which reference value to use for the diagrams and tables in our report, specifically in Section 6.4, ‘Emission Savings’. What was decisive here is that the data pool in our public Nabisy database is primarily intended to provide the biofuels quota office with the required data which it can and must use to answer the question of whether an individual obliged party has met its Greenhouse Gas Reduction Quota. For this reason, this report uses the individual values for the each type of fossil fuel in determining the emission savings of each type of biofuel.
This necessarily creates a break in the time line of emission savings illustrated in this report. The quantity of emissions to be attributed to biofuels is unaffected by this.
This Evaluation and Progress Report is intended to inform both the interested public and experts on the development of biofuels put on the market in Germany.
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The Renewable Energy Directive prescribes sustainability criteria for biofuels and bioliquids:
- The greenhouse gas emission saving from the use of biofuels and bioliquids shall be at least 50% (at least 60% in the case of new installations),4
- Biofuels and bioliquids shall not be made from raw material obtained from land with high biodiversity value,
- Biofuels and bioliquids shall not be made from raw material obtained from land with high carbon stock,
- Biofuels and bioliquids shall not be made from raw material obtained from land that was peatland in January 2008, unless evidence is provided that the cultivation and harvesting of that raw material does not involve drainage of previously undrained soil.
According to Commission Communication 2010/C 160/02, the sustainability criteria for biofuels and bioliquids can be implemented as follows:
1. By national systems;
2. By using a voluntary scheme that the Commission has recognised for the purpose;
or
3. In accordance with the terms of bilateral or multilateral agreement concluded by the European Union with third countries which the Commission has recognised for the purpose.
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This report provides information on the use of sustainable biomass in Germany during the 2018 calendar year. Details on the quantities of biofuels and bioliquids are split into three sections. These are:
- Biofuels counting towards the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Quota (Chapter 6);
- Bioliquids registered for electricity generation and supply under the EEG [Renewable Energy Act] (Chapter 7);
- Biofuels and bioliquids not destined for energy use in Germany (Chapter 8).
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1.3 Summary of important results and events in 2018
120,066 TJ of biofuels [previous year: 113,029 TJ] were the subject of applications for counting towards the German Greenhouse Gas Reduction Quota (corresponding to 3,538 kilotonnes of biofuel). Of these, just under 61%
(73,172 TJ) were made from source materials from within the EU [previous year: just under 67% (75,656 TJ)].
The source materials for all types of biofuels were mostly waste and residues (35.8% [previous year: 29.4%]), rapeseed (20.9% [previous year: 25.1%]), palm oil (15.7% [previous year: 17.5%]), maize (12.9% [previous year:
12.7%]), and wheat (7.2% [previous year: 7%]).
Biodiesel (FAME) accounted for the largest share of biofuel – about 72% or 86,663 TJ [previous year: 71%, 79,955 TJ].
The most commonly used source materials for biodiesel production were waste and residues at 41,144 TJ (47.5% [previous year: 39.4%]), followed by rapeseed at 25,105 TJ (29% [previous year: 35.5%])
The most commonly used source materials for bioethanol production were maize at 15,484 TJ (50.3% [previous year: 47.9%]) and wheat at 8,622 TJ (28% [previous year: 26.5%]).
The use of palm oil in biofuels fell in 2018 compared to the previous year (-4.2%).
The overall reduction in greenhouse gas emissions for all (pure) biofuels for transport was 83.8% as against fossil fuels. This means that about 9.5M tonnes of CO2 equivalent was avoided by the use of biofuels instead of fossil fuels.
30,388 TJ of bioliquids were converted into electricity. For feeding this electricity into the grid, remuneration under the EEG was applied for. 84.6% [previous year: 87.2%] was thick liquor from the pulp industry, 11.3% [previous year:
10.1%] was vegetable oils.
The overall reduction in greenhouse gas emissions for all (pure) bioliquids for energy production was 92.7 % as against fossil fuels. This means that about 2.6M tonnes of CO2 equivalent [previous year: just under 2.7M] was avoided by the use of bioliquids instead of fossil fuels.
73,735 TJ of the biofuels and bioliquids whose sustainability information was registered with Nabisy were retired to the accounts of other states [previous year: approx. 48,631 TJ]. The corresponding Proofs of Sustainability showed
significantly higher emissions compared to the documents submitted in Germany As of 31 December 2018, a total of 14 voluntary schemes were recognised by the European Commission and were also recognised in Germany.
The certification bodies recognised by the BLE (23 as at 31 December 2018) undertook 3,016 certifications worldwide during the reporting year (previous year: 3,250) under their relevant recognition. Of these, 2,919 (previous year: 3,116) were made according to the requirements of the voluntary schemes and 97 (previous year: 134) according to the requirements of the two DE schemes. These certifications are subject to the BLE’s monitoring
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