Biofuels soon to be mainstream in New Zealand

3 April 2014

Media Statement

Biofuels soon to be mainstream in New Zealand

The Bioenergy Association Executive Officer Brian Cox welcomed today’s announcement by Z that it would be producing biodiesel on a retail scale as further confirmation that biofuels will soon be a mainstream fuel in New Zealand. Mr Cox said,

“This commitment by Z to provide biodiesel at a retail level is another encouraging piece in the jigsaw. Commercial customers have previously shown that they enjoyed the benefits of biodiesel and it is great that it will again be on the market. The addition of biodiesel to the market by Z will complement the supply of biofuel in petrol already being supplied by Gull from some of its service stations. It’s a great step forward for the industry and for New Zealand motorists in general to see that biofuels will soon become more widely available.”

The announcement from Z also comes at a time when Norske Skog are investigating the feasibility of producing biofuels from wood.

“ Z use of tallow to produce biodiesel, Gull use of bioethanol produced from whey by Anchor Ethanol, and Norske Skog investigating the production of drop-in biofuels from wood all show that we can use our natural resources to meet our transport fuel needs.”

“40% of our energy demand is for transport so it is important that we focus more attention on producing this domestically rather than remaining dependent on fossil based fuels. The Bioenergy Association has been trying to encourage the Government to put as much focus on biofuels for transport as they put on fossil fuels. Biofuels are not yet instead of fossil fuels – for some time biofuels will be as well as fossil fuels.”

” The Bioenergy Association has identified that we could produce 30% of our transport fuel from our own natural resources by 2040.”

Mr Cox noted that “biofuels based on our natural resources will lead to additional employment, achievement of sound environmental outcomes, achievement of climate change goals, increased revenue for landowners, and regional economic growth at minimal cost.”

Background
The Bioenergy Association:

• Mission Statement is “to promote the maximum utilisation of all forms of sustainable bioenergy in New Zealand”.
• Vision is that “Bioenergy in all its forms is in widespread use across all sectors of NZ energy use by 2020.”
• has over 160 hundred members working across the length and breadth of the various supply chains.
• provides a central focus point for liaison with Government agencies, the dissemination of information amongst the industry and long-term positioning of bioenergy into New Zealand's energy system.
• has four Interest Groups which enables a focus on key areas:
• Liquid Biofuels
• Wood Pellets
• Biogas
• Wood Fuel.
• The Liquid Biofuel Interest Group is made up of New Zealand’s leading producers, retailers and wholesalers of biofuels.
• The NZ Bioenergy Strategy is available here
• Further Details - For further information see www.bioenergy.org.nz and www.liquidbiofuels.org.nz

ENDS

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