The end of E10 gasoline and biodiesel must come. At least if the German party De Gronne has its way. Instead, crops should only be used for food.
The German party De Gronne wants to phase out E10 gasoline and ban the use of biodiesel. The proposal is being put forward by the German Environment Minister, Steffi Lemke, who represents De Gronne.
The reason is that agricultural crops should only be used for the production of food.
E10 gasoline, which contains up to 10 percent bioethanol, has been the standard in several countries, including Denmark since 2020.
But in Germany, De Gronne now wants to ban both E10 and biodiesel, reports Autobild .
The background is that biofuels are produced from crops such as corn, sugar cane and rapeseed, as well as residues from the agricultural and food industries, which, according to De Gronne, should be used to feed people instead of functioning as an energy source.
In 2021, eight percent of the world's agricultural land was used to grow biofuels, an increase from five percent in 2018.
De Gronne argues that this development must be stopped. The Ministry of the Environment under Steffi Lemke is therefore working on a bill that will reduce and ultimately eliminate the reduction obligation for biofuels in Germany.
Current regulations require a reduction of greenhouse gases of eight percent. But this must be reduced to 2.3 percent by 2024 and completely eliminated by 2030.
However, the proposal has met with resistance from other parts of the government. The Ministry of Transport, led by Volker Wissing of the FDP, has criticized the initiative for being in direct conflict with climate goals.
"The measure would lead to a significant increase in CO2 emissions in the transport sector and is therefore contrary to the federal government's stated aim of meeting climate protection targets," a spokesman for the Ministry of Transport said.
The German motorists' association ADAC and other critics share the concern. De Gronne is accused of not offering a clear alternative for how the transport sector should compensate for the increasing need for fuel without biofuels.
The debate has thus become a central political battleground in Germany, with De Gronne defending their proposal with a focus on global food needs, while opponents warn about the consequences for climate and transport.
