Can Biodiesel compete with diesel fuel prices?
On June 15, 2007, the Spanish Congress approved a new regulation that imposes mandatory biofuels blending beginning calendar year 2009. The Government of Spain (GOS) was given the authority to change the renewable fuels use goals, which currently include: 1) Voluntary 1.9 percent blending of biofuels during 2008; 2) Mandatory 3.4 percent blending during 2009; and, 3) Mandatory 5.83 percent blending during 2010. According to the Spanish renewable fuels producer’s associations, the 1.9 percent voluntary blending target will delay the industry growth, previously expected during this 2007 and 2008. The EU renewable fuels directive 2003/30/CE set indicative biofuels use targets for EU Member States at two percent by the end of 2005 and 5.75 percent by the end of 2010. However, Spain reached only 0.44 percent use during 2005 and 0.53 percent during 2006. Using publicly available data for our analysis, there are currently ten biodiesel and four ethanol plants operating in Spain. Also, there a
