Is this the peak for Germany's biodiesel industry?
What does the German Environment Ministry think about Germany's biodiesel industry? Let's just say they understand the problem. As spokesperson Tobias Dunow told Renewable Energy Access, "We would like to see the second generation biofuels developed as soon as possible."The problem for Germany is that with 5 million tons of biodiesel able to be produced there this year, demand just isn't there. Industry sources told Jane Burgermeister, contributing writer at REA, that only about half that 5-million ton capacity will be used this year. Of course, biodiesel can be (and has been) blended with standard petrodiesel, but when biodiesel is sold on the open market, taxes are taking a bite out of sales, according to Burgermeister. German biodiesel producers will have to find other markets to sell to and also find a way to pay for increased feedstock prices.
[Source: Renewable Energy Access]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Domenick 8:48PM (8/29/2007)
Wouldn't it make sense to have lower taxes on bio diesel? What am I missing here?
Reply
bioburner 9:16PM (8/29/2007)
The attached article states that the Europen union forced Germany to add a 47 euro cents tax to the biodiesel which made it cost a few euro cents more per liter than the petrodiesel. there for demand for the fuel slacked off.
Politicians-don't ya just love the way they mess everything up?
mike w.
Reply
Exciton 9:07PM (8/30/2007)
Germam government is more socialist then all commies ever existed. It redistributes much higher amounts of money then any other developed country in the world if compared in relative numbers (per cap., per % of GDP, etc.).
Once the Red-Green politicians understood that industry is able to produce affordable cars running on biodisel they immediately increased taxes. All their screams about the "horrible CO2 emissions" is just another excuse to get deeper into the taxpayer pocket.
Prius and other hybrids are not popular in Germany at all. There are no tax breaks for them as in the "climate-killing" USA. And they simply lag behind in terms of price and fuel consumption compared to diesel cars with similar dimensions.
VW offered two models, Audi A2 and Lupo with extremely low consumption (3-4l/100 km) even earlier than Prius NHW11 appeared. They were a failure because unlike in "dirty" States, there were no incentives for the related premium costs.
Now both A2 and Lupo are discontinued. Green politicians incresingly blame German car industry for being "dirty"....
Reply