New Zealand to abandon biofuels mandate, shift to tax breaks

In New Zealand, the national government said it will repeal the nation’s biofuels mandate and replace the mandate with tax breaks on fuels that meet a sustainability standard. The mandate had called for a 2.5 percent biofuel content in fuel by 2012. The mandate was put in place by the former Labor government, which lost power to the National Party in November with the Nationals pledging to overturn the mandate and focus on tax incentives. The tax breaks will reward ethanol ad biodiesel equally. Hitherto in New Zealand, ethanol has enjoyed a 23 cent tax break while biodiesel has competed without tax sheltering.

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