Germany’s proposed Biodiesel Süd plant in jeopardy over financing woes

In Germany, the proposed 150,000 tonne Biodiesel Süd plant in Marbach/ Ludwigsburg has been delayed due to financing difficulties. The company is currently investigating the production of using waste oil or fat as feedstock, and commencing production at a technology park in Neckar as an alternative.

In other German news:

• In Brazil, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Brazilian President Lula da Silva signed a biofuels cooperation agreement. The partnership establishes sustainability criteria for biofuels, and provides more than $140 million in financing for a renewable energy R&D partnership between the two countries, as well as rainforest preservation efforts in the Amazon.

Chancellor Angela Merkel recently told Bloomberg that “Millions of people are becoming wealthy, and when 100 million Chinese start drinking milk then that’s going to have an impact on food prices…rising global food prices have nothing to do biofuels.”

Recently, the CEO of the VDB, a biofuel trade association, called on the German government to prevent cheap Brazilian ethanol from entering the German market, saying that German firms could not compete and that their existence was threatened. Germany mandates an E2 blend in all gasoline, but grain prices have made German ethanol uncompetitive with Brazil’s sugarcane-based product. According to the Guardian, Germany produced 310,000 tonnes of bioethanol last year, down 10 percent from 2006.

• In Germany, our European correspondent reports that the Agricultural and Economic Cooperation and Development ministries are at war over biofuels. The state secretary for Agriculture, while conceding a link between ethanol production and corn prices, is cautioning against over-reaction. Meanwhile, the ministry of Economic Cooperation and Development has called for a halt in using oilseeds and grains for biofuel.

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