Biofuels: Associations publish facts and demands

Brochure on consumer survey, background knowledge and industry demands for effective controls, higher admixtures and reduced tolls.

Berlin, 10.11.2023. A broad alliance of the agricultural and biofuel industries today presented the newly published brochure "Biofuels Policy Information". In doing so, they are responding to the debate repeatedly initiated by the Federal Ministry for the Environment and the Federal Ministry of Agriculture on the abolition of biofuels, providing an overview of the current discussion and categorising the facts. Against the backdrop of allegedly misdeclared imports of advanced biofuels from China, climate change and dependence on fossil fuel imports from autocratic countries, the industry is calling for more effective controls of the sustainability requirements for biofuels in the producing countries, higher blends for sustainable biofuels, the introduction of a CO2-based energy tax and a reduced toll for renewable pure fuels, among other things.

The demands are supported by a representative consumer survey conducted by the market research institute Kantar. According to the survey, a clear majority of Germans are in favour of biofuels and support higher blends. What's more, respondents reject a ban on biofuels due to the increased demand for agricultural commodities because of the Ukraine crisis.

It also explains the different types of biofuels, their importance for the entire value chain and their positive influence on the German government's climate protection targets. One focus is on how the greenhouse gas reduction quota works. The options for defossilising transport are becoming more diverse. The associations welcome this in an environment characterised by legal regulations that are also geared towards greenhouse gas efficiency and the promotion of market access for advanced renewable fuels. The brochure provides an insight into the increasingly complex legal regulations and is aimed at the interested public as well as politicians and associations.