SA Canegrowers participated in the Draft Amendment Regulations regarding the Mandatory Blending of Biofuels with Petrol and Diesel hearings held virtually yesterday.
SA Canegrowers CEO, Thomas Funke who participated in the hearings said it was confirmed that sugarcane would be included in the mix.
Further points raised included:
- The price would be regulated by the Minister of Mineral Resources and Energy.
- The pricing methodology would result from stakeholder engagement with the rules being developed once this consultation process was concluded.
- A 2% versus 5% blending mandate would attract pricing differential at the pump with the labelling of pumps being mandatory.
- Not all fuels have to be biofuels with supply being limited to areas where biofuels could be commonly used.
- A case was made for the prohibition of ethanol imports however it remained unclear how mandates could be forced. South African produced biofuels would get preference over imported biofuels with blenders required to buy locally produced fuels ahead of imports.
“What is positive is that the regulations will be gazetted soon and the comments made by SA Canegrowers were taken seriously,” Funke said.
Read the full amended draft regulations here:
https://www.gov.za/sites/default/files/gcis_document/202103/44265rg11257gon211.pdf
