Mannheim, 14 July 2015 - CropEnergies AG, Mannheim, welcomed approximately 600 shareholders and guests to its annual general meeting in the Congress Center Rosengarten in Mannheim on 14 July 2015. Dr. Wolfgang Heer was elected as a new member of the supervisory board of the company. All other agenda items were also approved by shareholders with a majority of over 99 percent. Overall, 82.83 percent of the share capital was represented.
The shareholders at the annual general meeting were particularly interested in the developments in the company, such as the commissioning of the neutral alcohol plant in Zeitz, Germany, at the beginning of the year and the temporary production pause in the UK. Also of great interest were the political framework for bioethanol in the EU and the price development in the European bioethanol market.
After the legal framework for biofuels had been discussed since October 2012 on a EU level, a compromise between European Parliament and European Council was finally reached in April 2015. This is the prerequisite for more reliability and a more stable framework for the industry. By 2020, 10 percent of the energy in the transport sector of the EU have to be renewable. As much as 7 percent may come from conventional biofuels such as bioethanol from grains and sugar beets. The member states have 2 years to implement this directive. CropEnergies expects this to lead to a significant market growth in the mid-term.
CropEnergies advocates creating a reliable framework for post-2020 since bioethanol is the only way to inexpensively and comprehensively replace petrol and reduce greenhouse gas emissions which is available today.