In October 2013, the Minister of Energy determined 2015 as the date by which crude oil refining companies will have to blend biofuels into petrol and diesel on a mandatory basis.  The Department of Energy will focus on finalising the subsidy framework for the manufacturers and the pricing approach for the blended product in the next two months.

 

Sustainable harvesting

According to Minister of Energy Tina Joemat-Pettersson, sustainable harvesting of biofuel feedstock also needs to be addressed. Joemat-Pettersson will engage with the Ministers for Agriculture and Rural Development in this regard.

“Our view is that this will have to be a phased process of finalising the crops to be used and the type of land where it will be produced, with the first phase focusing on crops grown on previously unproductive land, which is not under water irrigation. We could then progressively increase the phases to include different crops and in different parts of the country,” she said.

 

Job creation

Thousands of jobs are expected to be created through the biofuels value chain, through the farming of selected energy crops, the development of the infrastructure for producing, storing and transporting the product to refineries and oil depots.

Joemat-Pettersson believes that it is also important that small and upcoming farmers to enter the production value chain of biofuels and hopes to be able to source these projects from the SADC region to meet South Africa’s demand.