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Monday, 08 September, 2008, 18:20 GMT | more prices >>

South African biofuels hopes wither



By Upstream staff 

Photo by Reuters


South Africa has cut back on ambitious plans to develop its bio-fuels sector to create jobs and lessen its dependence on imported fuel, local media reported.

The country’s cabinet this week reduced the proportion of motor fuel which was to have been sourced from biofuels under new production targets from 4.5% to 2%, the Business Day newspaper reported.

Minerals and Energy Minister Buyelwa Sonjica also excluded maize, the country’s main crop and food staple, from South Africa’s new biofuels development strategy.

Crops including canola, sugar beets and sugar cane would be used instead, Sonjica said.

The government said concerns about the knock-on effect on food prices, as well as concerns about the effect of climate change on the country’s agriculture sector were behind the move.

Maize producers criticised the move, saying the exclusion of maize from the strategy would not enhance food security or reduce food prices.

The strategy has also been criticised for having little impact on South Africa’s dependence on oil imported from the Middle East, while environmentalists said that the development of biofuels would make little difference to climate change.

An early draft of the strategy suggested that biofuels development create 55,000 jobs in the country, where unemployment is rife. However, the final strategy contained no specific employment targets, the newspaper said.


Friday, 07 December, 2007, 23:24 GMT  | last updated: Friday, 07 December, 2007, 23:24 GMT

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