SA Biofuels strategy deadline looms

They are suggesting that biofuels will threaten the livelihoods of rural communities. According to the government, the sector can create at least 55 000 jobs. But members of the Citizens United for Renewable Energy and Sustainability SA Network have dismissed the strategy, saying it ‘pays scant attention to sustainable development concerns and misses the opportunity to build rural livelihoods’. Richard Worthington, sustainable energy and climate change project co-ordinator for the group, said: ‘… it looks a plan for big industry to entrench themselves in the growing move toward alternative and renewable energy sources.’ Full City Press report

Farmer organisations and rural communities from four of the country’s nine provinces have expressed their ‘extreme disquiet and consternation’ with the strategy, claiming the consultation process was flawed, reports Engineering News. In a statement distributed by the African Centre for Biosafety, they claimed that they had not been properly informed and consulted about the strategy. The statement suggested that government’s biofuels strategy should aim at tackling energy poverty within a context of integrated energy planning and rural development, with the ‘genuine participation of rural communities, particularly women’, as well as adopting an integrated energy planning approach, which must include ‘true green biofuels’ such as biogas and ethanol gel. It added that the strategy should include unequivocal commitment to improving public transport systems with a view to reducing SA’s dependence on fossil and liquid fuels. Full Engineering News report

Foreign investors are apparently awaiting the finalisation the strategy, according to another Engineering News report. Speaking at the Second African Biofuels conference held in Johannesburg, asset management company Sterling Waterford CE Gregor Paterson-Jones said that bioethanol production in SA was not viable without government support. Sterling Waterford is providing the seed finance to Ethanol Africa, which is planning to build SA\'s first large bioethanol plant in Bothaville, in the Free State. Ethanol Africa had, to date, been unable to secure the buy-in of a large investor, which would provide the financial impetus required to get the project off the ground. Full Engineering News report

It is expected the National Treasury and the SARS will have a tax-incentive scheme for the local bioethanol industry completed in time for the 2008 budget. At the biofuels conference, SARS national biofuels tax specialist Mark McLoughlin explained that biodiesel attracted duties in the same way as petrol and diesel. However, biodiesel is assessed for the fuel levy at a lower rate, reports Engineering News. The fuel levy for biodiesel is rebated by 40% on the diesel rate. Under the tax-incentive regime, non-commercial biodiesel producers are exempt from the payment of all duties, including the excise levy, the fuel levy and the Road Accident Fund. Southern African Biofuels Association (Saba) President Andre Makenete said that a well-thought out government incentives package was imperative for the establishment of a viable local biofuels industry. Full Engineering News report

The Industrial Development Corporation and its partners were looking to invest R3.2bn in two biofuels projects, with first production set for early 2009, project leader Noel Kamrajh said, reports Business Report. One of the projects will be near Cradock in the Eastern Cape and the other near Hoedspruit in Mpumalanga. The plan is for the Eastern Cape project to use sugar beets to produce about 90m litres of biofuel each year, and the Mpumalanga venture to make 100m litres of fuel from sugar cane. Full report in Business Report Download the Draft Biofuels Industry Strategy

In Canada, a group representing biofuel manufacturers has disputed a report suggesting that the government’s massive investments in ethanol won’t dramatically reduce greenhouse gas emissions. According to The Toronto Star, the study says regulations to promote biofuels will have a ‘relatively minor impact’ on reducing greenhouse emissions across Canada. The report casts doubt on one of the biggest green initiatives in the Conservative budget – a $1.5bn investment over seven years to promote renewable fuels such as corn-based ethanol. Many environmentalists acknowledge the benefits of corn ethanol for the farm economy, but they say it should not be presented as a program for cleaning the air. Full report in The Toronto Star

In the US, prices for maize have doubled since last autumn due to explosive growth of the ethanol industry. This has driven up costs for cattle, dairy, hog and poultry producers. . Based on a survey of 86 000 farmers earlier this month, the US Agriculture Department projected maize plantings of 36.6m hectares, which would be the largest acreage since 1944. Full report in the Mail & Guardian