Steuerbefreiung für Biokraftstoffe: Ist Bio-Ethanol wirklich eine klimapolitische Option?

In June 2002 the German Parliament decided to exempt biofuels from the gasoline tax. The policy to promote biofuels is being justified by allegedly positive effects on the climate, energy, and agricultural policy. The working paper takes a closer look at bio-ethanol as a substitute for gasoline and analyzes the underlying basic national and international conditions that provide the setting for the promotion of biofuels. Using energy and green house gas balances, the actual effects of the support and a possible increased use of biofuels are examined. The results show that the use of bio-ethanol to reduce green house gas emissions is economically inefficient and that there are other preferred alternative strategies.