Europe: Ukraine to pass biofuels legislation; German biofuels industry parades a coffin to symbolize the state of the industry

February 1, 2008

Our European correspondents report that Technische UniversitÃ¤t Hamburg-Harburg (TUHH) is well advanced on a project to transform glycerine into biogas and other high value products, and on a protest rally in Germany attended by over 100 biodiesel industry members, which included a coffin to simulate the state of the German biodiesel industry.

Also, reports have emerged that the Ukraine will pass legislation in 2008 that will support the establishment of a canola oil-based biodiesel industry. Full details are available in the most recent BBK newsletter from Germany, which is available for â‚¬65 per year.

In Germany earlier this month, the executive director of BBK, the German renewable fuels association, said that the German biodiesel industry is producing at only 10 percent of capacity, down from 20 percent in November, and that the industry is in a state of collapse. Peter Scrum, in an interview with Reuters, said that production is being continued only by larger firms. Recently Schrum accused the Finance Minister of trying to “crush us”, as tension erupts between supporters of the biofuels industry among Christian Democrats are pitted against anti-biofuels CD’s and the Social Democratic Party.

The limited German production is primarily for export, following a 60 percent tax hike on biodiesel that has halted sales of biodiesel at German petrol stations.

In Germany, die Welt recebtly reported that hundreds of German biodiesel makers are on the brink of bankruptcy due to increased German taxes on biofuels. The report said that the largest biofuels companies, Verbio AG, Petrotec AG and Biopetrol AG, would survive by cutting back production to service the German B5 mandate, but that the market for B100 has collapsed due to price hikes.

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Written by Jim Lane · Filed Under International