Foreword of Helmut Lamp, MdB 

Ladies and Gentlemen,

the market for biofuels for transportation is booming. While the German Government purposed in its Integrated Climate and Energy Package to enlarge the biofuel share in the transport sector to 17 % by 2020, the EU Member States shall now as well cover at least 10 % of their transport fuel demand in 2020 with biofuels concerning the proposals of the European Commission. To reach these ambitious targets huge amounts of biofuels will be necessary. So nothing to worry about for the European biofuels industry?

No, because it is still left open where the biofuels will come from. As the mineral oil industry will be interested in meeting its obligation with the cheapest biofuels no matter of its quality and therewith will favour imports rather than domestic biofuels, local biofuel producers are already pushed out of the market due to the new support strategy in Europe and Germany meaning the destruction of existing production capacities. This poses of course the question of whether and how the sustainability of these imported biofuels, say how environmental sound and under which social impacts they are produced, can be guaranteed. The demolishing public discussion about biofuels is to be seen as prompt reaction to a misdirected policy.

So the pressure to elaborate – and finally of course to implement – a reliable and comprehensive certification system for a sustainable biofuel production is huge. But still the presented drafts for a sustainability ordinance cause concerns as they even promote imports from countries with valuable eco-systems rather than strengthening incentives for the utilization of domestic biomass.

This may be in the interest of those critics who would like to see European farm land being reserved for food production – albeit roughly more than 50 million hectares of farm land could all over Europe could be utilized for energy crop cultivation without competing with food and feed markets or the requirements of natural conservation. But real experts of agriculture know that on European acres not solely energy crops are grown but also high-valuable protein-feeding stuff as by-product which finally find their way to the food markets by contributing to cover our soaring meat consumption or to produce milk products. Feeding stuff, which otherwise would have to be imported from countries outside the EU on the enlargement of the related cultivation area abroad, e.g. of soy acreage in Brazil. Finally the additional land demand of the European biofuel production is offset by a reduced land demand for the feed production.

Consequently policy is asked not to lose domestic, European biofuels out of sight and therewith recklessly abandon them. Because what mustn’t be ignored is if biofuels are to be claimed renewable and sustainable also in future, their import mustn’t be linked with the export of our problems. This is especially true if future biofuel support will solely be measured by their greenhouse gas savings. Meeting our CO₂-mitigation targets mustn’t incriminate other countries – biofuels which we import to meet our targets are missing in the exporting countries to meet theirs. Thereby from the view of climate protection it makes no difference where fossil fuels are substituted. But the focus of the biofuels support only on their greenhouse gas savings ignores other important aspects: the contribution of biofuels to reduce energy imports, to secure the energy supply and if nothing else, the promotion of rural area development in Europe.

Certainly we keep relying on biofuel imports also in future, and neither are we able to nor do we want to obstruct these imports. But it has to be assured that imported biofuels are verifiably produced in a sustainable way. Policy makers are challenged to rethink their support strategy by creating a commensurate and fair market for all biofuel producers and to adequately acknowledge the benefits surpassing the interest of climate protection.

With our conference on biofuels “Fuels of the Future” we would like to contribute to shape the future of biofuels for transportation in Europe. Since 2002 the conference is meeting point to the biofuels industry and policy makers in Berlin and evolved to one of the most important events in this field on an European level. So this year we again expect to welcome 700 to 800 stakeholders at our conference. We will have an eye on the development of the different biofuel markets and where to find innovative and advanced projects. But we will also highlight critical issues which are to be solved. We query policy makers and enable a direct and profound exchange of views. We place ourselves to the discussion.

For this we would be grateful to welcome you as well at our conference!

Yours

Helmut Lamp, MdB
Chairman of the 
German BioEnergy Association (BBE)