Biofuels Legislation

The Office of Biofuels has been established within the NSW Land and Property Management Authority to manage the implementation of the biofuels legislation and the regulations made under it, and to develop strategies to support the sustainable development of the biofuels industry in NSW.

Biofuel (Ethanol Content) Act 2007

The Act came into effect on 1 October 2007.

The purpose of the Act is to provide for a minimum ethanol content requirement of 2% in respect of the total volume of petrol sales in the State, at the primary wholesale level.

The Act does not require ethanol to be added to all petrol sold in NSW.

The Act requires primary wholesalers to report quarterly their total volume of petrol sales, including petrol ethanol blends, and the total volume of ethanol in the petrol sold. The Act does not apply to sales of petrol and petrol-ethanol blend fuel by one primary wholesaler to another.

Under the Act and Regulations, a primary wholesaler is a petrol wholesaler who either:

• operates or supplies petrol from any of the following facilities (whether or not in NSW) in connection with petrol wholesaling:
  1. an oil refinery
  2. a shipping facility
  3. a facility to which petrol is supplied by pipeline from an oil refinery or a shipping facility
  4. a facility to which petrol is supplied by a pipeline from a facility referred to in paragraph (c), or
     
• blends ethanol with petrol for resale in NSW.

This Amendment Act will come into effect on 1 October 2009.

The Amendment Act:

• renames the original Act to become the Biofuels Act 2007,
• increases the volumetric ethanol mandate to 4% from 1 January 2010,
• further increases the ethanol mandate to 6% from 1 January 2011,
• requires all regular grade unleaded petrol to be E10 from 1 July 2011,
• establishes a volumetric biodiesel mandate of 2% (this requirement has been suspended until 1 January 2010),
• increases the biodiesel mandate to 5% from 1 January 2012,
• applies the volumetric mandates to major retailers (control more than 20 service stations) as well as primary wholesalers,
• provides for sustainability standards for biofuels, and
• provides for exemptions from the requirement for all ULP to be E10 for marinas small businesses suffering hardship.

The Amendment Act provides that the implementation dates may be delayed or measures may be wholly or partly suspended under certain circumstances, for example if sufficient feedstock or production of biofuels is not available. Any changes will be published in the NSW Gazette and will also be detailed here.

The Regulations have also been amended to:

• reflect the mandate of biodiesel as well as ethanol, 
• provide for wholesalers who "splash blend" biofuels to register as primary wholesalers of either ethanol or biodiesel or both, and
• detail the sustainability standards.

Enquiries about registration as a primary wholesaler or major retailer should be directed to the Office of Biofuels.