Status: 04/11/2022 08:25 a.m
Drivers can save if they fill up with E10 petrol mixed with bioethanol. But demand is picking up only slightly. There are also calls to ban biofuel in order to be able to produce more food.
In view of the empty rapeseed oil shelves in supermarkets, one might ask: did some consumers use the cheaper vegetable oil to pour it into their own car tanks? But that could be more expensive than expected. The ADAC warns that vegetable oils have a negative effect on the performance and service life of the engine. There could also be starting difficulties.
Meanwhile, the Automobile Club considers biofuels to be a real alternative to classic super petrol and diesel – but only as an admixture. Since 2011, up to ten percent bioethanol can be mixed with conventional petrol. At the gas station, this fuel is sold as E10. The fuel is currently around six cents cheaper than E5. The ADAC therefore recommends E 10 as a remedy for the current high fuel prices. “You could save up to four euros with every tank of fuel,” writes the lobby association. In addition, with the bioethanol content from environmentally friendly cultivated plants, road traffic is relieved by up to three million tons of CO2 every year.
Share climbed to over 20 percent
In fact, the high energy prices have already partially persuaded motorists to switch. According to observations by the Federal Association of the German Bioethanol Industry (BDBe), the proportion of E10 in petrol consumption is increasing continuously. In January, the market share was over 20 percent, reports the managing director of the association, Stefan Walter. A year earlier it was still around 13 percent. “We have a strong increase.”
Walter cannot say to what extent the Ukraine war and the associated record prices at the pump fueled the demand for biofuel. There is no data yet. He expects, however, that the positive trend for bioethanol will solidify.
Still many reservations from motorists
But nobody in the industry wants to talk about a boom at the moment. The public’s reservations about E10 are still too great. “There is a long-term acceptance problem,” says a spokesman for the biofuel association. BdB managing director Walter also speaks of a continuing need for information on the subject of the E10. Many drivers would still mistakenly assume that the fuel is damaging their vehicle.
The ADAC opposes this. “Almost all petrol cars are now suitable for E10,” says the lobby association. All vehicles from November 2010 can tolerate the addition of bioethanol in the Super. But many older cars could also use petrol with a higher ethanol content without damage. The German Automobile Treuhand (DAT) gives an overview on the Internet of which models from before 2010 can fill up with E-10 petrol without any problems.
E10 petrol with an admixture of up to ten percent bioethanol is a few cents cheaper at the filling station than normal premium petrol.
Image: dpa
Environmentalists are calling for a ban
Another reason for the reluctance of many motorists could be environmental concerns about biofuel. Numerous environmental protection organizations have criticized the biofuel manufacturers since the start of the Ukraine war. Greenpeace calls for a ban on biofuel. “Fresh oil like rapeseed oil doesn’t belong in the tank, but on the dining table,” explains Martin Hofstetter, Greenpeace’s agriculture expert. Twelve liters of rapeseed oil end up in car fuel per capita and year – an amount that covers the annual consumption for cooking and food.
In the meantime, the environmentalists are getting support from parts of the federal government. Agriculture Minister Cem Özdemir is in favor of using less grain for biofuel. “It’s not sustainable to pour wheat and corn into the tank,” said the Green politician. Federal Development Aid Minister Svenja Schulze from the SPD also advocates considering a reduction in the proportion of corn and grain in biofuel. In the tank, corn and grain are the worst off in these difficult times.
Biofuel producers are fighting back
The manufacturers are fighting against a reduction or even a temporary cessation of biofuels. “The use of biofuels should not be restricted by law,” says the Association of the German Biofuel Industry. The market reacts to the war, which has an effect. Due to the high raw material prices, various biodiesel manufacturers are already reducing their production. “It’s hardly worth producing for producers at the moment,” says the association spokesman.
The Association of the German Bioethanol Industry points out that only four percent of the grain harvest in Germany is used for biethanol. “Only two percent of the arable land is required for bioethanol production,” says Managing Director Walter. In addition, the grain used can at best be used for feed, but not for eating.
Manufacturers also supply animal feed and chemical products
The industry also argues that with E10, it contributes to nutrition and industrial production at the same time. The manufacturers not only supplied energy, but also animal feed. The oil millers only extract 40 percent rapeseed oil from the rapeseed for the E10 admixture. The remaining 60 percent press residue is protein-rich animal feed, for example for dairy cows and poultry. These replaced feed imports.
Stefan Walter from the Association of Bioethanol Industry names basic chemicals and organic fertilizers as other by-products of biofuel production. Biodiesel production, for example, produces glycerin, which is contained in disinfectants, medicines, detergents and cosmetics.