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Outlook > 2007 > September
Prime Minister Launches biofuels
NEW Zealand's Prime Minister Helen Clark has poured the first
bioethanol-blended petrol in Auckland, as Gull New Zealand launched the
first commercially available biofuel for New Zealand motorists.
"I congratulate Gull on being the first oil company to make this move,
well before the Biofuels Sales Obligation starts next year," Helen
Clark said.
"Gull's new fuel provides motorists with real choice, helps New Zealand
to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and takes New Zealand a step further
towards achieving sustainability."
Climate change minister David Parker said the Biofuels Sales Obligation
the government announced in February this year will require biofuels to
make up 3.4 per ent of fuel companies' sales by the year 2012. The
obligation is due to commence in April 2008.
"Introducing biofuels to New Zealand will reduce overall emissions of
carbon dioxide from New Zealand vehicles and will help reduce
greenhouse gas emissions by more than a million tonnes between 2008 and
2012," David Parker said."
Gull's FORCE 10 fuel is a blend of 10 per ent bioethanol, which is
produced at Anchor Ethanol (a Fonterra subsidiary company) and comes
from their Reporoa distillery. The fuel is then blended at Gull's Mount
Manganui terminal. In New Zealand, bioethanol is made as a by-product
of the dairy industry and in future could be made here from crops such
as maize.
"The transport sector accounts for 40 percent of our carbon dioxide
emissions. Gull's initiative is another example of the business sector
stepping up and helping put the country on a more sustainable path,"
Helen Clark said.
"It also shows how government leadership on sustainability can
stimulate new kinds of business opportunities. In this case, we see a
by-product being turned into a useful resource, with benefits for the
environment." |