Turkish companies that invested in biofuel production in recent years are now worried about being unable to sell their products, the Anatolia news agency reported. They are currently lobbying to persuade the government to pass a law mandating the use of at least 2 percent of biofuel additives in gasoline and diesel fuel. Currently, fuel producers are free to use any amount of additives or none at all. In the past couple of years, when oil prices climbed to a peak of over $150 a barrel, many investors rushed to sign contracts with farmers to grow oil-bearing plants such as safflower and canola, which are commonly used in biodiesel production, in large amounts. Some investors poured millions of dollars into establishing refinery units and collection reservoirs for plant oil.
The Turkish Sugar Factories Corporation (TÜRKŞEKER), in the meantime, spent $690,000 on an additional investment jointly with the Eskişehir Sugar Factory to produce bioethanol out of sugar beets. This facility produced 160,000 liters of bioethanol last year, but had to stop production.
Bioethanol is produced from plants that contain sugar and starch such as sugar beets, sugar cane, corn and wheat and is used as a gasoline additive. Biodiesel, on the other hand, is made by processing oily plants such as safflower, canola and soy and is used either as an additive to diesel or directly as fuel.
TÜRKŞEKER General Manager Azmi Aksu says the bare cost of a liter of bioethanol is currently TL 1.74 and it becomes more expensive than a liter of gas after taxes are added. "Laws currently make it optional for fuel companies to use biofuel additives up to 2 percent, and fuel producers are just not adding biofuels," he said. Asked about his view on the possibility of making the use of biofuels required, Aksu said this wouldn't be plausible since Turkey currently does not have the production capacity to produce sufficient amounts for a mandatory 2 percent addition.
Mustafa Ezici, the owner of Ezici Yağ Sanayii Biyodizel Enerji Üretimi A.Ş., one of the forerunners of biodiesel production from waste oil in Turkey, notes that the wheels in his factory are no longer turning. He said there are currently seven companies with a license to collect waste oil for biodiesel production, and none of them are now able to run due to high costs and low fuel prices. "Today, a ton of waste oil costs roughly TL 1,500, and the cost of producing a liter of biodiesel out of this waste oil is TL 2.05, which is quite high considering current prices in the market. Fuel distributors are interested in the costs alone, while in Europe companies demand biofuel on environmental concerns. There are 59 biodiesel-producing companies in Turkey, which in total have invested $500 million to create a capacity of 1 million tons," he said.
