Subsidies
The law giveth, the law taketh away. The German gov’t has dissuaded the people from using biodiesel. How? By puting it on a level playing field. Petroleum prices go up and down. How can bio compete in such a market as this?
Germany’s biodiesel producers have reduced output by 30-40% since the New Year as new biofuel taxes cut demand at fuel stations,…
As reported by Reuters, the German government reduced a tax advantage for biodiesel in August 2006, and a subsequent fall in fossil fuel costs has removed biodiesel’s price advantage.
Too bad, so sad.
- Posted in : Environment, In the News, Positive Change, Renewable Energy
- Author :Rt
Comments»
The article doesn’t mention if they also removed (or ever had) subsidies on oil? The more I look at bio-fuel the more issues I find, so don’t take my comment as “pro biofuel”, but I do wonder if its truly a level playing field, or if like the USA they subsides the hell out of big oil.
I would like biofuels to be able to be cost effective on their own, but their is something to be said for preventing the wide spread destruction of global warming, even if it means making biofuel a little cheaper artificially (or oil a little more expensive).
In this case it was really a decrease in taxes that provided the subsidy. I presume the taxes will (eventually, this is phased in over the next 5 years) be the sams as petroleum. I read something about England doing the same thing there (puting the taxes on parity). I can’t keep up with US law much less Europe’s :)
Speaking of the US. There are two bills submitted in Congress (House and Senate) to kill some of the money Big Oil gets. I went to this page and searched for the word oil and it returned 90 different bills in Congress. Interesting, no?
I unserstand the need for subsidies, have a hard time supporting them but I understand ‘em :)
As far as global warming goes I’m mixed about biofuels. I read one person say that manufacturing ethanol creates one pound of CO2 for every pound of ethanol - and that doesn’t count burning the stuff. Making PV is so energy intensive you are keeping those coal plants busy just to make the stuff. Best to go thermal or ocean.