Election of AGQM Board

During their annual General Meeting the members of Arbeitsgemeinschaft Qualitaetsmanagement Biodiesel e.V. (AGQM) confirmed in office as Members of the Board Dr Juergen Fischer (chairman)/ADM Research GmbH, Dr Georg Pollert (vice chairman)/Verbio AG and Rolf Sieber (vice chairman)/SBE BioEnergie Handelsgesellschaft mbH. Dr Ruediger Brautzsch/Bio-Diesel Wittenberge GmbH was also re-elected. Henning Bohne/Louis Dreyfus Commodities Wittenberg GmbH, Dr Frank Kohl/NEW Natural Energy West as well as Elmar Baumann/Verband der Deutschen Biokraftstoffindustrie e.V. were elected new Members of the AGQM Board.

For the first time non-AGQM-members received the opportunity to attend the technical part of the General Meeting. Dr Matthias Nickel/BLE presented information concerning the current status quo of the implementation of the Biofuel Directive on Sustainability. In addition he answered questions on how to use of the Nabisy system in practice and explained the certification systems approved of by the EU.

Dr Thomas Weber/Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety (BMU) explained the amendment of the 36th Federal Pollution Control Directive (“36. BlmSchV”) and the status quo concerning ‘double counting’ of biofuels made of waste or secondary material. Dr Weber announced that the German Ministry of Finance will soon publish a decree to resolve the issue of what is to be defined as waste, so that ‘double counting’ can be utilized legally.

Bearing in mind the current debate on considering greenhouse gas of biofuels – triggered by indirect land use changes (iLUC) – Dr Weber presented a suggestion which anticipates an investment protection for existing plants based on a still to be laid down historic sales contingent for biofuels after 2017. So in order to be able to meet the objectives the additional demand for Biodiesel would have to also stem from so-called iLUC-free sources, e.g. additional acreage.

The BMU sees acreage potential worth developing in Eastern Europe. At the same time the introduction of the iLUC-factors could be dropped. That way the Biodiesel industry would be presented with an incentive to develop new feedstock acreage, Dr Weber stated.

Please contact: Dieter Bockey, AGQM e. V., Claire-Waldoff-Strasse 7, D-10117 Berlin / Germany Tel.: 0049 30 31 90 4-215 E-Mail: q.obpxrl@ntdz-ovbqvrfry.qr