THE GLOBAL WINDOW OF TURKISH FOOD AND AGRICULTURE The Global Window of Turkish Food and Agriculture Sector
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Mutlu Doğru, President of the Adana Farmers’ Association, stated that bioethanol, produced from sugar beets, maize and agricultural waste, is a strategic product that reduces energy dependence. “Bioethanol contributes to the economy and plays a significant role in combating climate change with its significantly lower carbon emissions compared to fossil fuels,” Doğru said.
Explaining that bioethanol is blended into fuel at rates of 5 to 10 percent in the European Union, 10 percent in the US and 27 percent in Brazil, Mutlu noted, “The blending rate in Türkiye, which began at 3 percent in 2014, was reduced to 2 percent by 2023. A new draft prepared by the Energy Market Regulatory Authority (EPDK) is under consideration to reduce this rate to 1 percent.”
Doğru also pointed out that the adoption of this regulation would result in the loss of approximately 600,000 tonnes of domestic products, primarily maize and emphasized that domestic maize production, which has increased from 2 million tonnes to 8 million tonnes over the past 20 years thanks to improved production techniques and support, would be negatively impacted.
“DDGS, the maize residue used in bioethanol production, is a high-protein feed raw material for livestock farming and that reducing the blending rate would increase dependence on foreign feed raw materials,” he warned.
Underlining that blending rates for the utilization of maize, beet and agricultural waste should be boosted rather than reduced, he added, “The draft should be amended and the rate should be boosted first to 3 percent, then gradually to 5 percent and 10 percent during the EU harmonization process.”
