Big British plans for bio-diesel in New Zealand

The company that created the world's largest biodiesel plant, is investigating building a biodiesel refinery in New Zealand.

Argent Energy vice-chairman Jim Walker told Glasgow's Sunday Herald that the company has scaled up plans to invest in a further two plants in the United Kingdom and possibly a third in New Zealand.

The company has just reactivated plans to float in the first half of 2006, following a new ruling that by 2010 about 5 per cent of fuel sold on UK forecourts must come from a renewable source.

Argent, which started production of biodiesel fuel from used cooking oil and animal fat in March, had cancelled its original flotation plan in August amid uncertainty over the United Kingdom legislative framework.

The biodiesel market comprises products made from a variety of raw materials including palm oil and rapeseed oil.

But Argent has also pioneered the use of waste cooking oil and animal fat, two fuel sources proposed in New Zealand by other companies as the basis of an environmentally-friendly product.

When Meridian Energy was seeking a "clean and green" image for its since-cancelled Project Aqua, it investigated running the earthmoving machinery on bio-diesel made from tallow supplied by South Island meatworks.

And some small companies have already started converting cars to run on waste oil from fish and chip shops.

Mr Walker said New Zealand was keen to increase adoption of biodiesel fuel for transport and Argent Energy had worked on a feasibility study to build a biodiesel plant here.

"It looks encouraging, especially as New Zealand intends to pass legislation in summer 2006 which would introduce mandatory blending of a proportion of biodiesel fuel with mineral diesel by late 2007 or summer 2008," he said.

- NZPA