News

May 10, 2009

The Week In Alternative Power: European Biofuels Still In Trouble

By Sally White

Europe’s new anti-dumping duties have failed to make any impact on imports of US biodiesel as yet. Producers now fear that subsidised deliveries from Argentina, Malaysia and Indonesia could become just as damaging. Producers in the major market of Germany are still working at below 60 per cent of biofuel capacity, while those in Spain are at only nine per cent.

For beleaguered US producers, however, there was good news when environmental regulators issued a draft rule last Tuesday calling for the increased use of advanced biofuels and the measuring of carbon dioxide emissions from alternative motor fuels. Around US$1.8 billion is to be put towards commercialising biofuels and stimulating research and development of greener second generation biofuels

In Germany the industry was lobbying heavily last week to reverse a government decision to cut...