NZ Biodiesel Industry Looks to Canterbury Oilseed Rape

The Solid Energy-owned company says it plans to use South Island oilseed rape committed mainly by Canterbury farmers to create efficient fuel.

Environmental groups have questioned the sustainability of overseas sourced biofuels, but Biodiesel NZ general manager Paul Quinn said South Island biodiesel emitted about 50 per cent less carbon dioxide over its life cycle than mineral diesel.

Biodiesel NZ had put in a resource consent application with the Selwyn District Council, hoping to build a biodiesel plant near the Rolleston industrial zone. Production was planned to start by January.

Early last week Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment, Dr Jan Wright, called for a Biofuel Bill now before Parliament to be scrapped.

Wright said the bill should not proceed in its existing form because it was questionable whether biofuels would actually reduce lower carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions.

But Quinn said while he agreed with some of what Wright was saying he disagreed with her concern biodiesel could not be produced efficiently.

"The thing we disagree with is the fact that, yes, it can be done here in New Zealand and it can be done sustainably and in a way that is good for both the economy as well as the environment."

Biodiesel NZ would like the Government to put in place a mandate to stimulate the industry and encourage investment over a five year period.

"Government support certainly helps and makes things more viable. I don't want us to be the only company that builds a plant. Then you don't really have an industry, you have a single stakeholder," Quinn said.

"We want an industry built and that requires some level of government support."

The sustainability of biofuels from overseas - and whether they are actually more efficient than fossil fuels - is becoming hotly debated.

Wright said biofuels appear to be carbon-neutral, because plants absorb CO₂ as they grow, and this is equal to the CO₂ emitted when the fuel is burned, Wright said.

However, this did not account for the CO₂ emitted during cultivation and processing into fuel. "Life cycle assessment of a wide range of biofuels shows a large variation of CO₂ emissions across fuels and, in some cases, across countries," Wright said.

She noted the European Commission was considering a biofuel 35% CO₂ emission reduction standard over fossil fuels. A Swiss study showed large variations in CO₂ emissions across fuels, with ethanol from US corn a very poor performer.

Importing of such fuels was dangerous, for example rainforests were being pulled down to make way for fuel crops.

Quinn said the 50% reduction standard over fossil fuels achieved by Biodiesel NZ's methods was obviously better than that standard.

Oilseed rape could be grown in such a way that it did not displace food production, he said.

The existing Biofuel Bill requires oil companies to sell low percentages of biofuels from July 1. The mandatory requirement will start at 0.53% of energy, rising to 3.4% in 2012.

Auckland-based biodiesel producer Biodiesel Oils NZ (BDO) said it could help the country meet those targets from July 1. "We can supply just under 50% of the biofuels sales obligation using tallow-based biodiesel from our East Tamaki plant now and both BP and Shell are buying from us," BDO managing director Tom McNicholl said.

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