“We are threatened with the greatest famine”: Development Minister for the end of biofuels

“We are threatened with the greatest famine”
Development Minister for the end of biofuels

The use of biofuels is supposed to protect the environment and reduce CO2 emissions. But meanwhile the fuel from plants is highly controversial – mainly because of the price increase due to the Ukraine war. Development Minister Schulze warns of fatal consequences.

Federal Development Minister Svenja Schulze from the SPD has called for an end to the use of food and feed crops for the production of biofuels. The reason for this is the dramatic increase in food prices worldwide, including the war in Ukraine, Schulze told the “Bild am Sonntag”.

“The bitter message is that we are facing the worst famine since World War II, with millions of dead.” Against this background, wheat, palm oil, rapeseed or corn should no longer be used for fuel production, Schulze said – not only in Germany but internationally.

The extent of the use of biofuels is also enormous: “In Germany, we pour 2.7 billion liters of fuel from vegetable oils into the car tanks per year. That corresponds to almost half the sunflower oil harvest in Ukraine,” criticized the minister and pointed out: “No one wants to be responsible for fueling world hunger. We have to stop putting food in the tank.”

Biofuel – not only good for the environment

At the end of April, Federal Environment Minister Steffi Lemke from the Green Party announced in the “Augsburger Allgemeine” that she wanted to reduce the use of biofuels. Accordingly, consultations are currently underway with the agriculture department of Cem Özdemir from the Greens. The industry had criticized the move. The production of biofuels is already restricted due to the high agricultural prices, so the market has already reacted, according to the Association of the German Biofuel Industry (VDB).

In Germany, around seven percent of every liter of diesel consists of biofuels. In the case of petrol engines, it is five to ten percent mixed biofuel. Cereals and sugar beets in particular are used for this. Biofuels were originally intended to protect the climate and help reduce CO2 emissions from car exhaust. However, the industrialized cultivation of biofuels consumes arable land on which food could otherwise grow and in some cases destroys fertile soil. In the worst case, the country could turn into a desert area, warns the WWF.

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