Instead of baked goods: EU Commission is considering the use of molasses in biofuel

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Annex IX of the Renewable Energy Sources Directive of the European Union (EU) is currently causing great concern for Germany's yeast industry.

This regulation regulates which raw materials can be used in future for the production of second-generation bioethanol.

And molasses is currently also on the preliminary list of usable materials - and thus the most important raw material for yeast production.

"The way to alternative raw materials in the biofuel sector is certainly important," comments Markus Weck, the managing director of the German Yeast Industry Association.

"Nevertheless, it must be carefully examined what the economic consequences are for the market and its participants."

The industry is now threatened by a shortage of raw materials.

"In the event that molasses is actually included in the list, we expect significant delivery bottlenecks," Weck said in an interview with WELT.

And that in turn could lead to supply bottlenecks for baker's yeast and thus affect bakeries in particular, warns the industry.

But other industries also use molasses, above all the manufacturers of animal feed.

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Molasses is a by-product of sugar production from beets that is left over after crystallization.

The viscous brown syrup is made up of vegetable ingredients and residual sugar and is considered to be the ideal nutrient medium for yeast organisms.

“There are plenty of experiments with other raw materials, including corn starch.

But none of them resulted in such a perfect symbiosis as molasses, ”reports Weck.

Refined sugar, however, would be an alternative.

"But that is far too expensive and makes yeast production uneconomical."

In addition to the yeast industry, other industries are also protesting against the use of molasses for fuel production.

A total of ten European associations have come together to form the "Molasses for Food" initiative, which translated from English means "Molasses for food".

The International Association of Plant Bakeries (AIBI), the European Chocolate, Biscuit and Confectionery Industry Association (Caobisco), the Committee of European Sugar Users (CIUS) and the European Association of Feed Manufacturers FEFAC are all involved.

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That this conflict arises is quite surprising.

Because the EU Commission is currently pushing the use of new types of biofuels, because the proportion of the previous biofuels was deliberately capped in order to avoid the resulting competition between food and fuel manufacturers.

After all, plant parts are often used in production that could also be used for nutrition.

But now it is more residual or waste materials that should be used.

“The inclusion of molasses in Appendix IX would run counter to this goal,” says Weck, who is astonished and speaks of “far-reaching consequences that would be felt internationally”.

“The demand from biofuel manufacturers for molasses would increase significantly in Europe.

But this increases the dependency on imports. ”And Europe is already a net importer for more than a third of its needs.

The consequences of being dependent on other countries became clear in a number of industries during the Corona crisis.

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According to Wecks Industrieverband, Germany's baker's yeast manufacturers need around 120,000 tons of molasses per year.

A total of five suppliers produce 130,000 tons of yeast, which exceeds the market demand of around 100,000 tons.

After all, 70,000 tons are also sold abroad.

Meanwhile, the breweries are calm.

Yeast is also used in beer production.

The German Brewers' Association (DBB) does not fear supply problems.

“While in yeast production, the yeast is the end product and the yeast receives molasses as feed in order to multiply, in beer production it is not the propagation of the yeast that is in the foreground, but rather the conversion of the feed produced in the brewhouse into beer by the wort Yeast, ”explains Daniel Schock, Managing Director Technology and Environment at the Brewers' Association.

Regardless of this, the European brewery association Brewers of Europe also supports the industry initiative against molasses in the tank.

According to Weck, a final EU decision on Annex IX is expected later this year.