Guarantee for Good Biofuel Moves Closer

 A guarantee that biofuels in New Zealand are good for the environment moved a step closer today as a Member’s Bill from Green Party MP Jeanette Fitzsimons passed its first reading in the House with widespread support.

“Sustainability standards help protect the environment as well as the world’s hungry and they also help local biofuel producers,” said Ms Fitzsimons, the Green Party Energy Spokesperson.

Ms Fitzsimons’ Sustainable Biofuel Bill rules out fuels made from food crops, made by destroying biodiversity, or which do not significantly reduce carbon emissions. The National Government recently set up a subsidy for biofuels, but did not include sustainability standards.

“New Zealand’s biofuels industry will have a more level playing field if we have sustainability standards,” Ms Fitzsimons said. “There are companies here doing great work re-using waste products like tallow. They should not be undercut by overseas producers who are harming the environment.”

New Zealand farmers were also worried that the Government's biodiesel scheme [PDF] would subsidise foreign farmers, Ms Fitzsimons noted. “The Member's Bill fixes the issues created by the Government's present subsidy scheme."

The Bill re-instates a legal framework for selling sustainable biofuels without violating World Trading Organisation (WTO) obligations. It does not distinguish between imported and locally produced biofuel, but requires both to meet the sustainability standard. The core provisions have already been through both the Select Committee process and Parliament and remain unchanged in Ms Fitzsimons’ bill.

Last year the Labour Government introduced a bill to require companies selling motor fuel to sell a small proportion of biofuel. The Green Party negotiated an amendment to ensure that the biofuel was from sustainable sources. The incoming National Government repealed the legislation a few months after it was passed, preferring a subsidy for biodiesel to a mandatory obligation, but also dropping the sustainability standards.

“It is another issue where the Greens sold a policy to Labour, helped develop it, then sold it to National after the election. I want to thank both parties for accepting the importance of this issue,” said Ms Fitzsimons. “We have brokered an agreement across the house without National or Labour ever having to talk to each other.”