German bioethanol hits back after rise in input causes concern

German bioethanol association BDBE has hit back that rising country bioethanol output is contributing to higher global food prices.

Since the German government raised the allowed amount of bioethanol blended in petrol from five to 10% in 2011, overall output for the first half of 2012 was 295,000 metric tonnes (a 21% rise).

But Germany’s development minister Dirk Niebel claimed the country’s increase of blended petrol was contributing to higher food prices for third world countries.

However the BDBE revealed that German producers only used 600,000 metric tonnes of grain to produce bioethanol in that first half of the year, a small fraction of the overall German grain harvest of 43.8 million. It is also believed that less than 1% of German farmland is utilised in the production of bioethanol.