THE GERMAN government has been forced into an embarrassing climbdown over its plans to lead a worldwide biofuels revolution on the roads after the discovery that too many cars would be unable to run on the proposed ethanol-petrol mix.
The environment minister, Sigmar Gabriel, had planned to introduce the new fuel to motorists next year. It is known as E-10, consisting of 90 per cent petrol and the rest ethanol.
The proposal was seen as central to Germany's ability to achieve its ambitious climate-protection goals under which it wants 20 per cent of its fuel to be made up of biofuels by 2020.
Experts said that target was now likely to be in jeopardy after the country's powerful car lobby headed by the German Automobile Club, the ADAC, and a group representing car importers, said that around 3.7 million cars, approximately 200,000 of which are German-made, would not be able to process the mix.
Gabriel said his "pain threshold", that around one million cars might be unable to cope with the new fuel, had been overstepped. He said he would rather withdraw his "roadmap to biofuels" than "start a long debate" that would create "new uncertainty over possibilities of refitting" older vehicles.
The news is a blow for the minister, known affectionately as Siggy Pop, who saw the directive as central to Germany's efforts to cement its place as an environmental trailblazer.
Gabriel said the aim had been "to make it possible for the German auto industry to reach its climate protection aims more cheaply". He added that the onus was now on the car industry to make the necessary technical improvements to cars.
His proposal had always been controversial, with critics divided into those who argued that the E-10 fuel would lead to higher costs for drivers, and those who were concerned about the damaging environmental impact of biofuels and its impact on food prices in the developing world.
Commentators say that with Germany's next general election due in 18 months' time, the German government is now viewing some climate protection schemes which once seemed like vote-winners, as too much of a political risk.