biofuels in Germany
Biofuels represent a viable alternative to conventional fuels such as petrol and diesel. Manufactured from natural and renewable resources, biofuels can make a sustained contribution to reliable energy supply and climate protection in the transport sector.
German companies have many years of experience in the field of biofuel manufacturing, offer globally tried and tested systems engineering as well as expertise along the entire value added chain. The same companies are also working on the development of new production procedures to increase the efficiency of manufacturing processes and thereby the yield per hectare of cultivable land. An area of emphasis in this field is the optimization of the biomass to liquid process (BtL).
Applications and technologies
The biofuels used in large quantities these days are biodiesel and bioethanol, the so-called first generation biofuels. Both are manufactured from high-grade natural products (oils, sugar, starch) and are for the most part mixed with traditional fuels.
Biodiesel can be used as a replacement for conventional diesel. The majority of diesel vehicles can be fuelled by pure biodiesel (B100). Furthermore, biodiesel can also be added to conventional diesel. In Europe a typical mixture ratio amounts to 7 %, the level to which the diesel fuel does not have to be specifically marked. Biodiesel is manufactured from vegetable oils; primarily rapeseed oil in Germany, but it can also be produced from palm, soya and sunflower oil. Biodiesel and the by-product glycerine derive from the transesterification of oils using methanol.
Bioethanol is mostly produced from sugar cane or maize, but can also be manufactured from sugar beet, grain or potatoes. The starch extracted from the latter is broken down via enzymes into glucose and subsequently fermented with saccharomycetes like the sugar from sugar-containing plants – as in the production of wine or beer. The extracted bioethanol is used in vehicles both in the pure form E100 and in specific mixtures with traditional petrol (E85, E10). So-called flexible-fuel vehicles, already widely used throughout Brazil and the USA, enable the use of different petrol-ethanol mixtures, whereby the vehicle is adjusted to the fuel by the push of a button or through automatic detection by one or more sensors.
Only high-grade plant constituents, such as those widely used as foodstuffs or in the chemicals industry, can be used for producing bioethanol and biodiesel under current manufacturing practices. As the technology of the future, the so-called “second generation fuels” offer the possibility of using the entire plant in the fuel production process, including the lignified and green constituents. Thus the biofuel yield per unit of cultivable land could be markedly increased.
At present, particular emphasis is placed on two processes; the enzymatic cellulose-based wet process and the “Fischer-Tropsch” process. Germany leads the way in this technology, in the process of which solid biomass is transformed into synthesis gas in a gasifier, by means of high pressure and high temperature. Synthetic fuels such as petrol, kerosene or diesel can be reconstructed through further process steps. With this method, fuel properties can be individually adjusted to existing engine technologies, with a favourable effect on combustion behaviour and pollutant emissions. To date, however, this technology is still in the testing phase.
Regulatory framework and market development
- German manufacturers have massively expanded their biodiesel production in the last years. They are planning to further increase capacity of up to 3 million tonnes in 2006/2007. Since 2004, the bioethanol production for the generation of fuel has been accelerated.
Source: UFOP (German Union for the Promotion of Oil- and Protein-containing Plants)/FNR (German Agency of Renewable Resources). * Forecast
The Member States of the European Union have set themselves the target of making biofuels ten percent of total fuel consumption by 2020. With an annual consumption of 3.1 million tonnes of biodiesel and vegetable oil, this target was already surpassed in the German diesel market in 2006. Taking account of plants in the planning phase and in construction, the production capacity of biodiesel in Germany will reach some five million tonnes in 2007/08. Germany is therefore the international leader in the field of biodiesel production. Meanwhile, biodiesel is on offer at 1,900 petrol stations in Germany. Thus it is possible to fill up with biodiesel at every ninth public filling station.
The production capacity for bioethanol installed in Germany, including plants under construction, amounts to approximately 2.3 million m³ for the period 2007/08.
Germany’s domestic market affords planning security to biofuel manufacturers and thereby supports the development of new technologies. However, technological advancement is not only important for improving the efficiency of new and existing production capacities: more stringent legal requirements regarding emissions are leading to more technological constraints and growing demands on biofuel quality. Today, the tax shelter for biofuels in Germany is already linked to compliance with specific minimum requirements for biodiesel, such as those in the international standard DIN EN 14214. A reduced tax rate applies to biodiesel until the end of 2011. It is currently anticipated that bioethanol will remain tax exempt until 2015.
German manufacturers are continuously investing in research and development for new and improved production processes. Thus the quality of biodiesel and bioethanol “made in Germany” is safeguarded in the long-run.
In addition to the tax shelter, the fuel industry in Germany is obligated to enrich its fossil fuels with increasing minimum quantities of biofuels. The example of the minimum-quantity model is being followed in other countries – in part also linked with short-term tax exemptions. Volume targets for biofuels also exist in other important agrarian nations outside the European Union, for example in Brazil and the USA. Of late, a large number of other countries, some 30 states worldwide, such as Canada, Malaysia, Indonesia and China, are also promoting the market for biofuels.
