Bioethanol production in Germany in 2017 fell by 8.8% year-on-year to 672,930 tonnes, and the share of the fuel in gasoline sales also declined to 5.9% from 6.1%.

Ethanol sales last year stood at 1.154 million tonnes, down by 1.8%. The German Bioethanol Industry Association (BDBe) said this is due to stagnating demand for Super E10. Sales of that fuel blend were down to 2.29 million tonnes from 2.30 million tonnes a year before. Meanwhile, there was a slight increase in the use of Super E5 to 15.39 million tonnes.

Germany produced 522,638 tonnes of bioethanol from food crops, 141,401 tonnes in the sugar and beverages sector, and 8,892 tonnes from non-food sources, including waste. In all three segments production was down from 2016. The greatest drop, of 27.8%, was in the production of second-generation ethanol.

BDBe called for more ambitious targets for the reduction of fuel emissions.

Article by Renewables Now: Germany's production, sales of bioethanol down in 2017