Around 700 participants from 33 nations discussed the fuels of the future in Berlin from January 22 to 23, 2023. In addition to electromobility, both e-fuels and biofuels are needed for sustainable mobility - according to the experts' recommendation.
The congress participants were unanimous: alternative drive options such as biodiesel, bioethanol and biomethane are very popular. In view of the challenge of climate protection, e-fuels produced from wind, solar and bioenergy will also play a key role in climate protection in the transport sector.
As the Chairman of the German Bioenergy Association (BBE), Artur Auernhammer, emphasized at the beginning of the congress, sustainable biofuels have saved more than 11 million tons ofCO2 in 2021. Sustainable certified biofuels are and will therefore remain an indispensable contribution to effective and immediate climate protection in transport, he said. A comprehensive strategy for alternative fuels and drives is now needed, the BBE Chairman demanded with a view to the Federal Ministry for the Environment.
The central common message from the congress participants from the renewable mobility sector is that the draft bill from the Federal Ministry for the Environment on the gradual abolition of biofuels from cultivated biomass, which became known at the specialist congress, is clearly rejected. The initiative, for which Federal Environment Minister Steffi Lemke is responsible and which is supported by Federal Agriculture Minister Cem Özdemir, is in stark contradiction to the need to close the greenhouse gas reduction gap in the transport sector, as presented at this congress. The announced gradual reduction in the upper limit for biofuels from cultivated biomass would cement the failure to meet the sector target, especially as the share of renewable electricity is declining and the Acceleration Act for expansion could only take effect in years. Biofuels from cultivated biomass are essential in their bridging function, it was said. They make the greatest real contribution to greenhouse gas reduction as, unlike e-mobility and hydrogen, they are not inappropriately counted multiple times. The ramp-up of e-mobility is stalling. A large proportion of the vehicles subsidized with taxpayers' money are sold on abroad after a short holding period.
Experts from the entire renewable mobility value chain are therefore warning emphatically that the planned amendment to the law would not only cause massive uncertainty in the renewable mobility sector, but would also divert entire flows of goods. The planned amendment to the law by the BMUV is also a warning to investors who want to invest in biofuels from residual and waste materials. Implementing these plans would set back climate protection in the transport sector by years, despite the urgency of rapidly reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
Now that the transport sector has already missed the target of the Climate Protection Act in 2021, greenhouse gas emissions are also forecast to be significantly higher in 2022. The rejection of the announced amendment to the law and the call for reliability in biofuel policy as well as the use of all available climate protection options is the real message that comes from the congress. Biodiesel, bioethanol and biomethane are the sustainable backbone of greenhouse gas reduction in the mobility sector, the congress participants concluded. Therefore, sustainable biofuels and other renewable fuels must be used consistently for effective climate protection in the transport sector. The experts also recommend a more ambitious approach to the statutory climate protection targets for the transport sector. Market-introduced biofuels and synthetic fuels are already available. A debate about prioritizing e-fuels over biofuels is therefore obsolete. Both technologies should be promoted and used. As a common consensus, sustainable mobility must be made easier and more user-friendly both by expanding the charging infrastructure and by providing sustainable biofuels and renewable fuels in rural areas and for fleets.
