In the future, drivers in Germany will also be able to fill up with diesel that is made 100 percent from used cooking oils such as chip fat. The so-called paraffinic diesel fuels are now also approved as pure fuel, the Federal Environment Ministry announced following a cabinet decision on Wednesday. These are made, for example, from waste materials and vegetable oils or based on natural gas. They can already be mixed with conventional diesel today. According to the changed regulation, they can now also be offered in 100 percent concentration.
But not all cars can be fueled with diesel made from pure cooking oil. “In order to avoid damage to vehicles due to incorrect refueling, the new regulation obliges gas station operators to provide consumers with uniform information,” said the ministry. At the same time, the current promotion of paraffinic diesel fuels from fossil sources should be ended in order to avoid climate-damaging incentives. The FDP politician Judith Skudelny was pleased with the decision. “It’s very clear: we want to have these 100 percent sustainable fuels,” she said. “It certainly has the potential to make transport climate-neutral, even in the existing fleet.”
The extent to which drivers can fill up with fuel made from frying fat across the board is controversial. The ministry warned that there was only a limited supply. Used cooking oils – for example from the catering industry – are already being used as an admixture in transport, said a spokesman. This amount cannot be increased. Skudelny, on the other hand, referred to the world market. “It’s nice, of course, if we use our own fats for this, but there are large international refineries.”