1 million acres available in NZ for biofuels feedstock: report

January 5, 2011 |

In New Zealand, the former New Zealand Forest Research Institute, Scion, has published a 210-page report showing government officials that more than 1 million hectares of marginal land throughout New Zealand should be planted in exotic trees like pine, a renewable resource that can be converted to biofuels.

In the proposal, Scion identified 19,900ha of land in Northland suitable for biofuel-producing forestry. The trees would be converted into liquid fuel through technology that is currently under development.

The initiative could potentially save New Zealand up to $4.8 billion per year and reduce its reliance on imported oil by as much as 65 percent by converting 1.8 million hectares of marginal land throughout New Zealand into “energy forests”.

Government officials welcomed the report based on three years research, which also involved input from Landcare Research, MOTU, NIWA and Infometrics.

More on the story.

Category: Research

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