Biodiesel

Used cooking oil from the Otago Corrections Facility will be converted to renewable fuel as part of a deal between the Department of Corrections and Biodiesel New Zealand.

Large colourful crops of oil-seed rape may become a more common sight on Otago farms in the future as the biofuel revolution gathers momentum.

When offering a biodiesel blend in Queenstown was first mooted, tourist operator Tim Barke was keen.

Just one year after its establishment, New Zealand's first community biodiesel pilot programme is being lauded, with operators of 66 tourism vehicles using up to 15,000 litres of biodiesel per month, earning the Queenstown scheme accolades nationally.

Dunedin residents will not have to drive a bus to get biofuel when the city's first dedicated biodiesel depot fills its first tank in January.

Energy Minister Gerry Brownlee today blamed the biofuel industry for the low uptake of a scheme to promote it.

Pure biodiesel could be sold from pumps in Dunedin and Queenstown after a funding boost from the Government, the man co-ordinating two biodiesel supply consortiums says.

Queenstown's biodiesel refuelling facility, the first of its kind in New Zealand, has attracted national and international interest.

A Dunedin group hopes to bring a regular supply of biodiesel to the city in a scheme similar to one already operating in Queenstown.