German biofuels producers are pushing for more flexible sustainability rules in the first year of the implementation of the German bio-ordinance law, which regulates the sustainability of biofuels used in Germany and is set to be implemented on January 1, biodiesel producers and industry experts told Platts this week.
"If Germany doesn't change the current rules, there won't be enough product in the market. There aren't enough producers yet certified," a German biodiesel producer said Wednesday.
The producer told Platts that the German biodiesel industry is lobbying the federal government to extend the time frame in which the mass balance system can be applied.
The mass balance system is intended to facilitate storage of sustainable and non-sustainable product in the same tank or warehouse. Under the system, the physical product sold can be a mixture of sustainable and non-sustainable material, but the certificate passed along with the sale is what will really matter.
For instance, a company is allowed to mix 2,000 mt of non-sustainable material with a 1,000 mt of sustainable. When a sale is done, a mass balance needs to be kept -- meaning that although the physical product is a mixture, the company can sell 1,000 mt of sustainable and 2,000 mt of non-sustainable product.
In a telephone interview Tuesday, the German biofuels industry association VDB said that they are supporting the lobby for the extension of the mass balance period from the current three months stated in the bio-ordinance legislation to a year.
In practice, that would mean that, for example, rapeseed crushers would be able to process product into rapeseed oil at the beginning of the year, sell the physical product, but use the sustainable certificates later in the year.
"At the moment, it would not be feasible to run the sustainability system with the three-month time frame for the mass balance system," VDB's managing director Elmar Baumann said Tuesday, adding that the flexibility would be crucial as the majority of the EU member states have not yet transposed the RED into national legislation.
A second German producer said that the mass balance system was "very likely" to be extended to cover the period of July 2010 to July 2011.
"This would mean that people would be able to certify product that they already crushed retroactively," he said, adding that would lead to most of the German rapeseed production being certified.
According to Baumann, most of the German rapeseed production will be able to meet the requirements of the German bio-ordinance.
"We estimate that approximately 70% of the German rapeseed harvest 2010 can be used as certified feedstock," he said.
"If Germany doesn't change the current rules, there won't be enough product in the market. There aren't enough producers yet certified," a German biodiesel producer said Wednesday.
The producer told Platts that the German biodiesel industry is lobbying the federal government to extend the time frame in which the mass balance system can be applied.
The mass balance system is intended to facilitate storage of sustainable and non-sustainable product in the same tank or warehouse. Under the system, the physical product sold can be a mixture of sustainable and non-sustainable material, but the certificate passed along with the sale is what will really matter.
For instance, a company is allowed to mix 2,000 mt of non-sustainable material with a 1,000 mt of sustainable. When a sale is done, a mass balance needs to be kept -- meaning that although the physical product is a mixture, the company can sell 1,000 mt of sustainable and 2,000 mt of non-sustainable product.
In a telephone interview Tuesday, the German biofuels industry association VDB said that they are supporting the lobby for the extension of the mass balance period from the current three months stated in the bio-ordinance legislation to a year.
In practice, that would mean that, for example, rapeseed crushers would be able to process product into rapeseed oil at the beginning of the year, sell the physical product, but use the sustainable certificates later in the year.
"At the moment, it would not be feasible to run the sustainability system with the three-month time frame for the mass balance system," VDB's managing director Elmar Baumann said Tuesday, adding that the flexibility would be crucial as the majority of the EU member states have not yet transposed the RED into national legislation.
A second German producer said that the mass balance system was "very likely" to be extended to cover the period of July 2010 to July 2011.
"This would mean that people would be able to certify product that they already crushed retroactively," he said, adding that would lead to most of the German rapeseed production being certified.
According to Baumann, most of the German rapeseed production will be able to meet the requirements of the German bio-ordinance.
"We estimate that approximately 70% of the German rapeseed harvest 2010 can be used as certified feedstock," he said.
