Biofuel Quota Act

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Basic data
Title: Law to introduce a biofuel quota through amendment of the Federal Immission Control Act and to amend energy and electricity tax regulations
Short title: Biofuel Quota Act
Abbreviation: BioKraftQuG
Type: Federal law
Scope: Federal Republic of Germany
Legal matter: Environmental law
Issued on: December 18, 2006
( BGBl. I p. 3180 )
Entry into force on: January 1, 2007
Please note the note on the applicable legal version.
In Germany, rapeseed is an important supplier of raw materials for biodiesel production

The full title of the German Biofuel Quota Act (BioKraftQuG) is the law to introduce a biofuel quota by amending the Federal Immission Control Act and amending energy and electricity tax regulations . It is an article law in which a minimum proportion of biofuels in total fuel sales in Germany is prescribed and regulated. The law was passed in the German Bundestag on October 26, 2006 and introduced a minimum use of biofuel for the first time on January 1, 2007. With the law amending the promotion of biofuels of July 15, 2009, essential parts of the regulations were changed.

In Germany, biodiesel is the most important biofuel. In addition, bioethanol plays a role as a raw material for the production of the additive ETBE or as the main component of ethanol fuel (E85) and vegetable oil . When calculating the biofuel quota, admixtures and pure biofuels are taken into account.

Basis, content and purpose of the law

EU law

With the BioKraftQuG are targets of various directives of the European Union ( EU Directive ) to be implemented:

  • Directive 2003/30 / EC (Biofuel Directive) of the Council of Europe of May 8, 2003 on the promotion of the use of biofuels or other renewable fuels in the transport sector , repealed by Directive 2009/28 / EC (Renewable Energy Directive) of the European Parliament and the Council of April 23, 2009 on the promotion of the use of energy from renewable sources and on the amendment and subsequent repeal of Directives 2001/77 / EC and 2003/30 / EC
  • Council of Europe Directive 2003/96 / EC of October 27, 2003 on the restructuring of the Community framework for the taxation of energy products and electricity , as amended by Council Directive 2004/75 / EC of April 29, 2004
  • Directive 98/34 / EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 22 June 1998 on an information procedure in the field of standards and technical regulations and the regulations for information society services , as amended by Directive 98/48 / EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of July 20, 1998

content

The BioKraftQuG obliged the mineral oil industry to bring a fixed and increasing minimum proportion of biofuels into circulation. This should increase annually by 0.25% up to 8% of the energy content of all fuels put on the market in 2015 ( Section 37a (3 ) BImSchG ). According to the EU Renewable Energy Directive, which is to be implemented by December 31, 2014, the share of energy consumption in the transport sector from renewable energies (not just biofuels) must be 10% by 2020. The law does not specify the form in which the share should be taken into the market. Rather, every entrepreneur who markets fuels (motor petrol or diesel fuels) is obliged to ensure that the amount of fuels they sell contains the percentage of biofuels stipulated by law for the respective year. This can be done by adding to the mineral oil products sold, but also by separate sales of the biofuels, also by third parties commissioned for this purpose.

From 2015, the biofuel quota will be replaced by a blanket savings target: From 2015 the so-called decarbonisation strategy of the EU will be implemented in Germany. The total quotas for biofuels that had previously been in force will be abolished. Instead, blanket reduction targets apply to fuels. From 2015 onwards, 3.5% of the greenhouse gases emitted by fuel consumption must be saved each year; the annual savings rate will increase to 6% by 2020. The use of biofuels is one way of achieving the savings rate. For this, the actual savings potential of the respective biofuel must be taken into account. The minimum requirement for a biofuel in terms of its greenhouse gas saving potential compared to conventional fuels is specified by the Biofuel Sustainability Ordinance. According to the ordinance, this minimum requirement is to be increased from currently 35% to 50% on January 1, 2017 and to 60% from January 1, 2018 ( Section 8 BiokraftNachV).

In its National Biomass Action Plan of April 2009, the Federal Government assumes that the GHG reduction quota of 7% (later changed to 6%) in 2020 corresponds to an energetic share of biofuels in the overall market of 12%. With this conversion of the quotas, the aim of the federal government to optimize the utilization of biomass with regard to its GHG reduction potential and its energy efficiency is being implemented.

For energy suppliers who operate natural gas filling stations, this opens up a new source of income by adding renewable bio natural gas. The biofuel quota achieved in this way can be sold to mineral oil companies, who can thereby meet their obligation to add biofuel.

The biofuel quotas valid until the end of 2014 were changed by the law amending the promotion of biofuels of July 15, 2009. Instead of an increasing quota, a fixed quota of 6.25% (energetic) applied. This quota could either be achieved by adding biofuels to petrol or diesel, or by using pure biofuels.

purpose

On the one hand, the statutory regulation is intended to take account of climate protection by reducing the combustion of mineral fuels. On the other hand, the expansion of the biofuel industry is intended to create a basis for security of supply with fuels. The law also abolished the previously existing tax breaks for biofuels insofar as they were used to meet the quota obligation. The tax breaks for the utilization of pure biofuels (biodiesel, vegetable oil) were limited in time, the last tax credits gradually expired until 2015.

Relationship with Other Laws and Regulations

In order to introduce the biofuel quota, the new §§ 37a to 37d BImSchG were inserted through the Biofuel Quota Act . In addition, various regulations, mainly tax relief, were changed in the existing legal bases of the Energy Tax Act and the Electricity Tax Act , and obligations under the Mineral Oil Data Act were expanded. Shortly thereafter, implementing provisions were also issued through the ordinance for the implementation of the regulations on the biofuel quota ( 36th BImSchV ) and the ordinance on the quota accounting for certain biogenic oils (38th BImSchV). However, the latter regulation was repealed a short time later.

criticism

technology

The proportions of biofuels in diesel and petrol, which are stipulated in Section 37a (3) of the BImSchG and are increasing in several steps, are controversial. It is feared that a large part of the motor vehicles with gasoline engines in operation are technically incompatible with the prescribed biofuel content (especially the bioethanol content ).

sustainability

Environmental associations are also sometimes critical of the biofuel quota because the increasing demand for renewable raw materials cannot be met on German cultivation areas. This can contribute to problems such as rising prices for food and feed (competition for land and use ) and the destruction of natural habitats and a reduction in biodiversity through the development of new cultivation areas. The Renewable Energy Sources Directive , which came into force in June 2009, calls for sustainability to be ensured, which is also to be guaranteed in Germany by the Biofuel Sustainability Ordinance (Biokraft-NachV) which has been in force since November 2009 and January 2010 .

Elimination of the tax break

The gradual reduction in tax breaks for pure biofuels is also in the political discussion. From the point of view of the proponents of the use of biofuels, the slump in sales of the affected fuels biodiesel and vegetable oil fuel due to the increase in consumer prices and the loss of economic viability for the domestic biofuel industry are problematic.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ BT-Drs. 16/2709
  2. ↑ Fachagentur Nachwachsende Rohstoffe e. V. (FNR): "Biofuels - Basic data Germany, as of October 2009", Gülzow (2009), 14-page brochure, available as PDF .
  3. ↑ Directive 2003/30 / EG (PDF) of the European Union for the promotion of the use of biofuels or other renewable fuels in the transport sector.
  4. ↑ a b Directive 2009/28 / EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of April 23, 2009 on the promotion of the use of energy from renewable sources and the amendment and subsequent repeal of Directives 2001/77 / EC and 2003/30 / EC (PDF ) .
  5. ↑ Directive 2003/96 / EC (PDF) of October 27, 2003 on the restructuring of the Community framework for the taxation of energy products and electricity
  6. ↑ Directive 2004/75 / EC (PDF) of the Council of April 29, 2004.
  7. ↑ Directive 98/34 / EC (PDF) of the European Parliament and of the Council of June 22, 1998 on an information procedure in the field of standards and technical regulations and regulations for the services of the information society.
  8. ↑ Directive 98/48 / EC (PDF) of the European Parliament and of the Council of July 20, 1998 amending Directive 98/34 / EC on an information procedure in the field of standards and technical regulations.
  9. ↑ a b "The current biofuel legislation" , Union for the Promotion of Oil and Protein Plants (UFOP), status 01/2007, 6-page overview, (PDF).
  10. ↑ Renews Special Biofuels, 2012 ( Memento of the original from May 20, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (PDF; 1.8 MB).  @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.unendet-viel-energie.de
  11. ↑ Biofuel quotas: Experts skeptical about increase (as of April 16, 2008). ( Memento from June 12, 2008 in the Internet Archive )
  12. ↑ https://www.greenpeace.de/sites/www.greenpeace.de/files/FS_Agrosprit_0803.pdf .
  13. ^ Union for the promotion of oil and protein plants e. V., 2009: Report on tax breaks for biodiesel as a pure fuel (PDF; 4.5 MB), p. 11.

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