Caltex CEO urges more state funding for biofuels

The government is not investing heavily enough in the development of biofuels, said Julian Segal, chief executive officer of Caltex Australia, the country’s largest refiner. “Biofuels and other alternative fuels can be a significant part of Australia’s future fuel mix but policymakers need to put in place the right measures to allow the potential of these fuels to be realized,” Segal said in a speech to the American Chamber of Commerce in Sydney. Segal also said that the “major policy question” was whether to rely solely on markets to meet transport fuel demand or whether governments should intervene to regulate or encourage the development of alternative fuels. There was no “single solution” to meeting the fuel requirements of the country’s transport sector, he added. (July 29, 2010)