December 17th, 2006
A study funded by the national government of Germany said that the country can viably produce biofuels using second generation Biomass to Liquid Technologies (BTL) that will produce biofuels from straw, grass, tree leaves, wood chips, or other low-grade (low-value) crops, according to this article. The energy ministry believes that Germany has and could sufficiently produce biofuels using the newer BTL technologies. According to Clemens Neumann of the Energy Ministry's Sustainable Materials Department, the total potential of biofuels in Germany could account for 30 percent of the country's fuel requirement.
This is a welcome development for the Renewable energy cause. While Europe has primarily been a biodiesel market, its good to see a leading and technically able country dabble into other biofuels using materials that they could inherently produce.