In what should be a cautionary tale to American lawmakers who might want to raise revenues from biodiesel sales, a leader of Germany’s biofuels industry says high taxes on biodiesel in that country are killing the green fuel there.
This article from Forexyard.com quotes Peter Schrum, president of biofuels industry association BBK, saying that Germany’s nearly 5 million tonnes annual biodiesel capacity is only at about 20 percent of that level:
“The industry is still in a disastrous state largely because of increased taxes,” Schrum said. “Sales are dead.”
Germany increased taxes on biodiesel this year under the government’s continuing programme to raise taxes on green fuels to the same level as fossil fuels.
“Unless there is a major change in policy, biodiesel production in Germany will stop,” he said. “The industry will simply close down.”
The rise in fossil oil prices this year had not generated substantial new biodiesel demand at petrol stations as taxes had made the green fuel uncompetitive, he said.
Producers argue that biodiesel needs to be at least five euro cents cheaper than fossil diesel because vehicles consume more of the green fuel. The tax rises mean the price is almost the same in some German regions.
“The B100 (petrol station) market hardly exists for biodiesel,” he said.
The German biofuels industry is now looking to the Sept. 27th German parliamentary elections as a chance to change lawmakers to those who might reconsider the high-taxing actions.
A Louisiana biodiesel plant that needs intense heat to turn animal fats and waste materials into the green fuel has chosen a Texas company that specializes in the process control system that uses hydrogen to create the heat needed.
“The idea was born from a simple observation of a fish in an aquarium,” said researcher Asfaw Beyene, a mechanical engineer at San Diego State University. “Many flying and swimming animals have superior efficiencies than manmade devices. The primary difference between natural motion and motion of manmade devices is lack of geometric adaptability to varying flow conditions.
More state vehicles in Texas will be running on something other than the non-renewable petroleum the state is known for.
Officials at a biodiesel plant in Mississippi have finished the commissioning process for the 8-million-gallon-a-year facility.
Kum & Go L.C. has recently opened an E85 station in Neosho, Missouri. The company, headquartered in West Des Moines, Iowa, opened the 3,400-square-foot convenience store after only 84 days of construction. 
When the ethanol by-product known as dried distillers grains with solubles (DDGS) is heated at high temperatures under limited oxygen to make synthesis gas, or syngas, the remains are a fine, dust-like ash. SDSU Soil Testing Laboratory manager Ron Gelderman set out to learn whether that residue could be applied to fields as a soil nutrient, since the ash likely would be discarded in a landfill otherwise.
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The depot will use a gasifier from Packer Engineering to convert grass, leaves, branches and other biomass into syngas, a gas mixture that contains carbon monoxide and hydrogen. The syngas can then be used to create cellulosic ethanol, bio-electricity or hydrogen. Although the proposal calls for trying all three fuel types, Keller said it would be more practical to concentrate on producing just one fuel when the depot is built.