Event Report: Transatlantic Approaches to Biofuels
_On May 25, DaimlerChrysler hosted a panel discussion at its Berlin representation center organized by the German Marshall Fund of the United States (GMF), addressing the economic, energy and environmental aspects of biofuels. The event formed part of a series of events on "(external)Transatlantic Approaches to Biofuels":http://www.gmfus.org/trade/template/page.cfm?page_id=98 conducted by the German Marshall Fund in the US and Europe in spring 2007._
*Ottmar Edenhofer*, Chief Economist at the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK), opened the first panel on 'Biofuels as Part of a Climate Protection and Economic Growth Strategy'. He underlined the message of the "latest IPCC report":http://www.atlantic-community.org/index.php/items/view/IPCC_Spells_Out_Course_of_Action_on_Climate_Change that climate protection measures were indeed economically affordable. *Karl-Heinz Schlaiss*, Senior Manager for International Relations at DaimlerChrysler, stressed that his company was working on both increased efficiency of engines and on biofuels. Regarding the latter, common transatlantic standards were needed, for example regarding biofuels blending. *Tim Searchinger*, Transatlantic Fellow at the GMF, argued that potential greenhouse gas emissions reductions were no good argument for the mass use of biofuels, since turning carbonaceous materials into a fuel does not have any net CO2 emissions benefits. *Tom Blades*, Managing Director and CEO of Choren Industries, was quite optimistic on the potential of second-generation biofuels. His company, a leader in this field, is planning five refineries in Germany by 2015. The second panel assessed 'European and U.S. Policies on Biofuels'. *Bobby Richey*, Foreign Agricultural Service Counselor at the US Embassy in Berlin, opened the debate, stressing that his government had spent $US 12 billion on alternative fuels since 2001. *Clemens Neumann* of the German Federal Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Consumer Protection (BMELV) highlighted that Germany is a net-importer of biomass, raising the issue of sustainability. *Geraldine Kutas*, Coordinator of the European Biofuels Policy Research Program (EBP) at Sciences Po in Paris and co-author of a recent "(external)GMF study":http://www.gmfus.org/publications/article.cfm?id=305&parent_type=P on the impacts of transatlantic biofuels policies on developing countries, stressed that the main barriers to trade of biofuels were tax policies and technical norms on both sides of the Atlantic. *R. Andreas Kraemer*, Director of the Berlin-based Institute for International and European Environmental Policy (Ecologic), forecasted that farmers with huge production capacities would win, while small farmers in developing countries would lose.
