BIODIESEL IN EUROPE 1994

100 years ago, Rudolf Diesel suspected that ''petroleum and these coal tar products'' would become scarce in time; the first oil crisis in 1973 sparked off a world-wide search for alternative fuels. Biological fuels made from renewable resources, such as vegetable oils and their esters, are most promising as self-igniting fuel for diesel motors. The principal suitability of almost all vegetable oils and fats, the positive effect with respect to a save in CO2 and to better emissions, and a higher suitability of transesterified oils i.e. biodiesel as super diesel are explained. Questions of production and quality are discussed on the example of the CD process which has been developed in Leer, and there are reports on methods of analysis and results of application. The connection between environment and agriculture, politics and the provision of energy for the future is clarified, an assessment of the position of oilseeds in the comparison of vegetable sources of energy is made, and the development whose contours are being formed at this moment in Europe - and throughout the world in future - of increasing utilization of biomass for energy and technical sectors is discussed. An important point is the far-sighted treatment of the desired sustainable development with regard to taxes, to which a clear reply is given.