Biofuel in New Zealand
Encyclopedia
Biodiesel
Ecodiesel, a company owned by a group of New Zealand farmers, plans to build a biodieselBiodiesel
Biodiesel refers to a vegetable oil- or animal fat-based diesel fuel consisting of long-chain alkyl esters. Biodiesel is typically made by chemically reacting lipids with an alcohol....
plant by the end of 2008. The plant will be built in stages and cheaper than Argent's, and could produce 20 million litres of tallow
Tallow
Tallow is a rendered form of beef or mutton fat, processed from suet. It is solid at room temperature. Unlike suet, tallow can be stored for extended periods without the need for refrigeration to prevent decomposition, provided it is kept in an airtight container to prevent oxidation.In industry,...
-based biodiesel per year by April 2009.
In the effort to develop an aviation biofuel
Aviation biofuel
Aviation biofuel is a biofuel used for aircraft. Aviation biofuel is widely considered by the aviation industry to be one of the primary means by which the industry can reduce its carbon footprint. After a multi-year technical review from aircraft makers, engine manufacturers and oil companies,...
, Air New Zealand
Air New Zealand
Air New Zealand Limited is the national airline and flag carrier of New Zealand. Based in Auckland, New Zealand, the airline operates scheduled passenger flights to 26 domestic destinations and 24 international destinations in 15 countries across Asia, Europe, North America and Oceania, and is...
and Boeing
Boeing
The Boeing Company is an American multinational aerospace and defense corporation, founded in 1916 by William E. Boeing in Seattle, Washington. Boeing has expanded over the years, merging with McDonnell Douglas in 1997. Boeing Corporate headquarters has been in Chicago, Illinois since 2001...
are researching the jatropha
Jatropha
Jatropha is a genus of approximately 175 succulent plants, shrubs and trees , from the family Euphorbiaceae. The name is derived from the Greek words ἰατρός , meaning "physician," and τροφή , meaning "nutrition," hence the common name physic nut. Mature plants produce separate male and female...
plant to see if it can provide a renewable alternative to conventional fuel.
Bioethanol
Gull Force 10Gull Force 10
Gull Force 10 is a brand of E10, 98 octane fuel marketed by Gull Petroleum in New Zealand, consisting of 10% bioethanol and 90% gasoline. The fuel was the first biofuel product to go on sale in the country, and was launched by Prime Minister Helen Clark on August 1, 2007.The bioethanol is produced...
, a bioethanol blend, was introduced commercially in New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
for the first time by the company Gull
Gull Petroleum
Gull Petroleum is a Perth, Western Australian based petroleum company, which retails fuel in Western Australia and New Zealand....
on 1 August 2007. It contained 10% ethanol made from dairy by product by Anchor Ethanol, a subsidiary of Fonterra
Fonterra
Fonterra Co-operative Group Limited is a New Zealand multinational dairy co-operative owned by almost 10,500 New Zealand farmers. The company is responsible for approximately 30% of the world's dairy exports and with revenue exceeding NZ$19.87 billion, is New Zealand's largest company.- History :In...
Ltd. On 8 August 2008, Gull introduced a 91-octane bioethanol blend in Albany
Albany, New Zealand
Albany is a northern suburb of Auckland, one of the several cities in northern New Zealand. The name derives from Alba and its Latinisation. It is located to the north of the Waitemata Harbour, 15 kilometres northwest of the Auckland city centre. The suburb is in the Albany ward, one of the...
. The blend, 'regular plus', contained 10% ethanol
Ethanol
Ethanol, also called ethyl alcohol, pure alcohol, grain alcohol, or drinking alcohol, is a volatile, flammable, colorless liquid. It is a psychoactive drug and one of the oldest recreational drugs. Best known as the type of alcohol found in alcoholic beverages, it is also used in thermometers, as a...
and included bioethanol made from whey
Whey
Whey or Milk Serum is the liquid remaining after milk has been curdled and strained. It is a by-product of the manufacture of cheese or casein and has several commercial uses. Sweet whey is manufactured during the making of rennet types of hard cheese like cheddar or Swiss cheese...
. Gull planned to release the fuel to 33 stations, and marketed it as under $2 per litre. On release, the company said it would try to keep the price two cents less than its standard 91-octane fuel.
It was reported that British fuel producer Argent Energy would abandon plans to build a plant in Tauranga
Tauranga
Tauranga is the most populous city in the Bay of Plenty region, in the North Island of New Zealand.It was settled by Europeans in the early 19th century and was constituted as a city in 1963...
to produce tallow-based biodiesel. The plant would have cost over $100 million to build, and would have competed with cheaper sugar-based ethanol imports from Brazil
Brazil
Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...
. The plant could not proceed because a 42c/L tax break
Tax break
Tax break is a slang term referring to any item which reduces tax, including any tax exemption, tax deduction, or tax credit. Tax break is also a pejorative term used in the United States to refer to purportedly favorable tax treatment of any class of persons, as in "individuals get a tax break...
on bioethanol until 2010 had not been approved by the government.
Biomass
FirewoodFirewood
Firewood is any wood-like material that is gathered and used for fuel. Generally, firewood is not highly processed and is in some sort of recognizable log or branch form....
is used as a means of heating some homes in New Zealand and wood pellet fires are now becoming more common, especially in areas with high levels of air pollution.
Biofuel Bill
The Labour-led government introduced a Biofuel Bill in October 2007. It passed its second reading in Parliament in September 2008. The Bill requires petrol and diesel to have a percentage of biofuels added with the amount increasing to 2.5% after five years.In April 2008 the Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment
Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment
The Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment is an independent Officer of the New Zealand Parliament appointed by the Governor-General on the recommendation of the House of Representatives for a five-year term under the Environment Act 1986...
, independent from but funded by the government, recommended in a select committee briefing that the Biofuels Bill should not proceed. This conclusion was arrived at on a number of grounds. The Biofuels Bill did not restrict the importation of biofuels and this would lead to potential societal and environmental harm that may be greater than if biofuels were not used. It was also claimed that this may damage the "clean green" image of New Zealand. Waiting for second generation biofuels
Second generation biofuels
Second generation biofuels - also known as advanced biofuels - can be manufactured from various types of biomass.Biomass is a wide-ranging term meaning any source of organic carbon that is renewed rapidly as part of the carbon cycle...
and curbing the growth in transport energy consumption were also seen as reasons for not supporting the Bill
After the National Party gained power it repealed parts of the Biofuel Bill with the Energy (Fuels, Levies, and References) Biofuel Obligation Repeal Act. It removed the mandatory requirement for all fuel to have a percentage of biofuel.
Sustainable Biofuels Bill
The Green Party tabled a Sustainable Biofuels Bill which passed its first reading in Parliament in July 2009. The Bill "is to ensure that biofuels that are supplied or sold in New Zealand from 1 May 2010 are sustainable biofuels".Funding
In the 2009 Budget $36 million was made available over a three year period as grants for biofuel production. It is only available for producers who sell on the local market and are able to meet the quality specifications for engine fuels.See also
- Renewable energy in New ZealandRenewable energy in New ZealandRenewable energy in New Zealand is primarily from hydropower. In 2010, 74% of the electricity generated in New Zealand came from renewable sources, a ratio that has been falling for decades while load growth has been met primarily by natural gas-fired power stations...
- Biofuels by regionBiofuels by regionThe use of biofuels varies by region and with increasing oil prices there is a renewed interest in it as an energy source.Recognizing the importance of implementing bioenergy, there are international organizations such as IEA Bioenergy, established in 1978 by the OECD International Energy Agency ,...
- List of renewable energy topics by country