German Minister to Propose Withdrawal from Use of Crop-Based Biofuels

January 17, 2023

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by Michael Hogan (NASDAQ/Reuters) German environment minister Steffi Lemke said on Tuesday she would soon send proposals to the cabinet for the country to withdraw from the use of crop-based biofuels to achieve reductions in greenhouse gases.

“Biofuels stand for land consumption and loss of biological diversity,” Lemke said in a speech on Tuesday posted on the environment ministry’s website. “To replace only around 4% of fossil fuel use in German road transport, a land space in Germany and abroad is needed which represents about 20% of the German agricultural area. That is not future-orientated.”

Germany’s programme to cut greenhouse gases includes use of blending biofuels, such as biodiesel and bioethanol, with fossil fuels to reduce emissions from road vehicles.

Oil companies have a greenhouse gas reduction target which they can partly fulfil with biodiesel often made from rapeseed oil or waste vegetable oils and bioethanol that can be produced from grains or sugar.

“I want to intensify the use of real biofuels produced from garbage, wastes and used edible oil,” Lemke said, adding she saw more potential to reduce the quota of greenhouse gas emissions in road transport using waste-based biofuels.

“Therefore we will, as soon as possible, propose to the cabinet the legal framework for a withdrawal from biofuels from food and animal feed crops.”

Germany previously announced it would ban palm oil use in biofuel production from 2023.

Lemke and German agriculture minister Cem Oezdemir, who are members of the Green party in Germany’s ruling coalition, have both called for the end of food crops in biofuel production, saying food is too valuable to be used for fuel output.

Use of food crops for biofuel production has been increasingly criticised in recent years, including as world food prices surged in 2022 following the war in Ukraine. READ MORE

Food and fuel not in competition, says German bioethanol body (Biofuels International)

Germany revisits ban of crop-biofuels (Argus Media)

Food vs fuel: German ministries clash over role of conventional biofuels (EurActiv)

German plans to end crop-based biofuels would hit farmers, cut rapeseed output (Reuters)

Crop-based biofuel ban talk unsettles canola industry (Western Producer)

Excerpt from Biofuels International: The Federal Minister of Food an Agriculture , Cem Özdemir, has led calls to abandon biofuels from cultivated biomass.

“Since the animal feed grain used for domestic bioethanol production is not qualitatively suitable for human consumption, Minister Özdemir’s statement must be considered misleading. In fact, every tonne of bioethanol simultaneously produces roughly one tonne of high-quality, protein-rich animal feed. This reduces Germany’s dependence on imports of animal feed from overseas and at the same time increases domestic food security,” said Norbert Schindler, chairman of the BDBe.

Blending bioethanol with petrol reduces carbon dioxide emissions in the transport sector by about 3 million tonnes per year.
“Biofuels are currently the only effective way to lower greenhouse gas emissions in the transport sector and will continue to be in the coming years. More than 45 million passenger cars with combustion engines that will still be on German roads after 2030 can only be defossilised with renewable fuels,” added Schindler.

The BDBe’s view is that it is not enough to rely solely on the market ramp-up of e-mobility to achieve the climate targets in the transport sector as this can only help reduce CO₂ in the long term.

In the medium term, there is not enough climate-friendly electricity or e-vehicles. Without alternative fuels, it will not be possible to achieve the climate targets in the transport sector in the years to come.

“Instead of new scenarios to ban the use of sustainable biofuels, the German government should present a realistic roadmap for how the transport sector can become less dependent on fossil energy – especially fuels,” emphasises the BDBe Chairman.

Schindler also stresses that the side effect of the Federal Agriculture Minister’s position will weaken the sustainability efforts and resilience of other sectors like industry.

“Ethanol is also used as a basic chemical throughout Europe and is no longer produced from fossil sources for this purpose. It is therefore also a fundamental component of the supply and production chains of the domestic pharmaceutical and chemical industries,” Schindler concluded. READ MORE

Excerpt from Western Producer: Germany’s proposed ban on all crop-based biofuel would be a blow to Canada’s canola sector, but it would not be devastating because of the new crush plants being built in the country.

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The sector expects that Canadian exports would be affected if the German government goes ahead and bans biofuel made from crops

Germany may ban crop-based biofuels by 2030, which would be a blow to the Canadian canola sector, says an analyst.

“It’s not good news,” said John Duvenaud, publisher of the Wild Oats Grain Market Advisory.

The European Union is a top customer for Canadian canola. It crushes the crop and uses the oil to make biodiesel.

The EU imported 2.52 million tonnes of Canadian canola in 2020, ranking as Canada’s second biggest market that year, only slightly behind China’s 2.58 million tonnes.

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Reuters reports that German environment minister Steffi Lemke will soon send proposals to the cabinet to ban crop-based biofuels by 2030 to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

Germany has a coalition government comprised of the Social Democrats, the Green Party and the Free Democrats.

Lemke is with the Green Party. She is supported by German agriculture minister Cem Oezdemir, who is also in the Green Party and believes food should not be used for fuel.

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There is already a move afoot in the EU to phase out palm oil and soy oil-based biofuels due to concerns surrounding deforestation.

While Germany’s proposed ban on all crop-based biofuel would be a blow to Canada’s canola sector, it would not be devastating, said Duvenaud.

That is due to the plethora of new canola crush plants being built in Canada. Those plants are expected to add 5.7 million tonnes of crush capacity over the next few years, reducing the industry’s reliance on export markets.

Canada could afford to eliminate one market the size of Germany, said Duvenaud.

“The danger is that if Germany is going to do it, what’s stopping the rest of Europe from doing it?” he said.

The other factor to consider is that Germany would suddenly have more rapeseed oil without a home. About half of the country’s 3.7 million tonnes of rapeseed production is used to make biodiesel, according to Reuters.

“This proposal could generate changes in trade flows with more German rapeseed oil going for export,” Oil World analyst Thomas Mielke told Reuters. READ MORE