UFOP publishes sales statistics for biodiesel and vegetable oil
Berlin, 9 April 2009 - Following latest information from the Federal Statistical Office and the Federal Office of Economics and Export Control, the statistical results confirm the slump in the sale of biodiesel and vegetable oil in 2008 in comparison with 2007.
Biodiesel as component in diesel fuel went up from 221,000 mt to 1,644,000 mt, but this positive development should be seen in the context of a slump of totally 673,000 mt pure fuel sold less in that period. In absolute figures: Whereas 1.840 million metric tons of biodiesel were sold as pure fuel in 2007, this figure went down to only 1.167 million mt in 2008. This represents a drop of 36.6 %. Considering the higher use of biodiesel as admixture in diesel fuel, total biodiesel sales went down by 14 %, i.e., from 3.263 million mt in 2007 to 2.811 million mt in 2008.
The slump is even more dramatic for vegetable oil based fuel. Sales went down from 772,000 mt in 2007 to 418,000 mt, or minus 46 %, in 2008.
Another aspect of this development to be considered is the fact that much of the fuel sold in the pure fuels market is biodiesel B99 imported and subsidised in the United States. The decision by the EU Commission to levy a punitive tariff duty on B99 is coming too late.
The only gleam of hope in the future development of bio fuels is bio ethanol, whose consumption went up from 0.461 million mt to 0.618 million mt, or 34%, in 2008.
It remains to be stated from the point of the bio diesel and vegetable oil fuel industry that the above bio fuels accounted for a sizable 12.7% of total diesel fuel sales in 2007 and 10.2% in 2008. This means that, in 2007, both fuels together reduced the emission of CO2 from transport sources by about 9 million metric tons and 7.1 million mt in 2008.
The national decarbonisation strategy provides for a reduction of 30 million metric tons from transport sources starting in 2020. These figures make it clear that biodiesel and vegetable oil fuels are necessary complements if the goal set by climate protection activists is to be obtained in time. Looking at the present initiatives of the German government, concerning changes of the bio fuels policy, the question of how the drop in biodiesel and vegetable oil fuels can be compensated also in the light of the obligation of climate protection is calling for an urgent answer.
Therefore, UFOP reiterates the call on the Members of German Parliament to give the pure fuels market a new future by undertaking a new legislative initiative.