UFOP Board Demands Further Development of the Biodiesel Strategy
At its first meeting in 2010 on the occasion of the International Green Week exhibition, the members of the Board of the Union zur Förderung von Oel- und Proteinpflanzen e.V. (UFOP) discussed the necessity of a sustainable orientation in the development of the strategy for the sale of biodiesel and plant oil fuels.
The UFOP Board welcomes that the government faction is again dealing with the question of reasonable arrangements for fiscal incentives for biodiesel and plant oil fuel. Considering the desolate development in the pure-fuel market, the tax incentive should be revised to make biodiesel and plant oil as pure fuel attractive again, especially for the transport industry. Regulation of the tax relief for local public transport of the type available for agriculture and forestry would, at the same time, underline the function as ecological example. The UFOP Board underlines that the financial incentive will also fuel the required demand for cars and trucks licensed for operation on biodiesel.
The UFOP Board makes it clear that the ever more stringent emission requirements must also be met by road and off-road vehicles (e.g., farming and forestry vehicles) operating on plant oil fuel or biodiesel. It is clear that the car sector has already missed out on this development. Tax incentives for biodiesel in this area are not making sense any more because no releases have become available from car manufacturers since the introduction of diesel particulate filters in 2004. So the biodiesel and plant oil fuel sector is pinning its hopes on the sale of commercial vehicles. As the Board sees it, the forthcoming launch of Euro 6 exhaust level engines is also a development challenge. Engine, exhaust treatment system and fuel must be compatible with each other. At the same time, the deadlines for the respective exhaust level to become effective are putting engine developers under high pressure of time. Therefore, UFOP expects that the fiscal relief should be accompanied by a research strategy and incentive.
The UFOP Board demands incentives for R&D in biodiesel and plant oil fuel research on the same level as the so-called 2nd generation biofuels. Besides, this R&D incentive should regard the use of biodiesel for blends. The UNOP Board is afraid that the sale of biofuels is bound to end up in a bind alley without new scientific knowledge for optimizing engines and fuels. The UFOP Board therefore recalls its demand for resuming the discussion among federations under the Biofuels Roadmap. Germany should be the pacemaker for biodiesel and plant oil fuel, not only in capacity development terms but also - and particular - in fuel systems research in this area also in future. Plant oil fuel and biodiesel research should therefore also be a fundamental element of the future orientation of the Biomass Action Plan, the Board demands.
