4 March 2009 Media Release

NZ Must Legislate Biofuels Says Kiwi World Record Holder

New Zealanders will not get to use greener biofuels unless the Government introduces legislation to replace the Biofuels Bill it dumped recently, according to the Kiwi holding the record for fastest circumnavigation of the earth in a powerboat.

Mr Bethune, whose biofuelled boat Earthrace beat the existing record by 14 days in 2008 and is on display at the Auckland Boatshow this week as part of a nationwide environmental awareness tour, said that in January last year, New Zealand became the only country in the OECD not to have biofuels available to consumers for road transport, and since then our progress has remained practically zero.

He said countries around the world had already recognised the environmental and economic advantages that biofuels offered, and had progressively introduced legislation making it compulsory for them to be blended in petrol and diesel.

“It is ironic that a Kiwi beat a world record using a bio-fuelled boat, but we can’t get biofuels in our own country.

“I am embarrassed that the world thinks of New Zealand as a leader in biofuels because of the success of Earthrace, when we are actually behind everyone else. “The new government’s repeal of the Biofuels Bill entrenches our position at the tail end of the OECD,” he said.

Just before Christmas, and under urgency, the new government repealed the legislation that made it compulsory for oil companies to commence the blending of biofuels into standard diesel and petrol.

Mr Bethune said that compared to international benchmarks, the percentages of biofuel blending in the original legislation was not ambitious. Oil companies were required to start with just 0.5% biofuels in 2008, rising to 2.5% by 2012.

“You would think that a new Government would have more pressing legislation to rush through than removing the only bit of climate friendly legislation we had before Parliament,” Mr Bethune said.

Mr Bethune said Gerry Brownlee’s reasons for dumping the bill were not strong. “He said the bill would lead to uncertain costs to consumers. If petrol and diesel, and all oil prices, were stable, he might have a point. But they are far from stable anyway. Oil rocketed up to US$150, and back to $40 in just twelve months. Fuel prices have become increasingly unstable. That’s what happens when you are totally dependent on a dodgy part of the world for your energy needs.

“Mr Brownlee’s claim that biofuels “could damage New Zealand’s clean, green image” was ridiculous. The only reason we have a clean, green image is our amazing environment. It is certainly not because of National’s determination to see us continuing with a 100% petrol and diesel policy.

“He claimed that the old bill did not have a sustainability clause. What he failed to explain was what sustainability clause the oil industry currently operates under, or how the 100% petrol / diesel policy of national is considered sustainable. He also neglected to mention that Nick Smith, on behalf of the National Party, had in fact signed off on a sustainability clause that was to take effect this year.

“He also claimed he wanted to see “fuel suppliers making decisions to supply biofuels based on commercial, environmental and marketing considerations.”

“If it is left to fuel companies we will never see significant biofuels production here. Oil companies hate biofuels because they reduce their upstream revenues. When BP, Mobil, Shell or Caltex sell a litre of petrol here, they make a small amount in New Zealand, but their parent company overseas makes a much larger amount on the litre of oil that was sucked out of the ground. Every litre of biofuel they are forced to sell at the pump results in less profit to the group as a whole.

“That is why our Government needs to show some leadership and backbone, and support legislation that forces oil companies into blending biofuels into our transport energy, rather than simply leaving it at their discretion,” Mr Bethune said.

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