UFOP expects German government to better leverage biofuels in meeting GHG-reduction targets

The forecast on the development of greenhouse-gas (GHG) emissions published March 15 by the German Federal Environment Agency (UBA) confirms that 9 million metric tons of CO2 equivalent (CO2eq) will be exceeded in the transport sector in 2022.

Without biofuels, the emission ceiling stipulated in the Federal Climate Protection Act would have been exceeded by a further 11 million tons of CO2eq, noted the Union for the Promotion of Oil and Protein Plants (UFOP).

This underlines the bridging function of biofuels from sustainably certified cultivated biomass.

Their contribution to climate protection, as well as that of biofuels from residual and waste materials, could be even greater.

However, caps of 4.4 percent and 1.9 percent of final energy consumption in transport limit the potential use and, thus, the contribution to GHG reduction.

With the approval of B10 instead of B7, the specification of E10 instead of E5 as a protective grade and the introduction of E20, more biofuel could be blended immediately with climate-protection benefits.

Germany exported about 2.3 million tons (more than 700 million gallons) of biodiesel in 2022, a potential that should be used in this country and counted towards climate-protection targets, UFOP emphasized.

The association expects that the Federal Ministry of Digital Affairs and Transport (BMDV) and the German federal government’s Council of Experts on Climate Change will recommend these measures.