Soaring tallow prices make biodiesel uneconomical

The soaring price of tallow oil has crushed the hopes of a green bus fleet in Canterbury, New Zealand. Tallow, a sustainable by-product containing fats and other wastes from the meat-processing industry, has more than doubled in price from NZ$500 to NZ$1,085 a ton (US$385 to US$837) since the trial began, making it no longer economically viable. Environment Canterbury (ECan) in New Zealand has been conducting a trial of biodiesels in four buses on Christchurch routes since September 2006. In a report it recommended work be done on changing to 10% and 20% tallow-based biodiesel blends and that using biodiesel be made mandatory in passenger service contracts from 2009-10. “There is ample evidence that any logistical issue can be overcome,” the January report said. But ECan is now turning away from biodiesel buses as the cost of tallow skyrockets and environmentalists have raised fears over the sustainability of other crop-based biodiesel sources. ECan Assistant Manager of Passenger Services David Stenhouse said the NZ$86,000 (US$66,364) trial would probably carry on purely as a data-collecting exercise. A decision on the biodiesel fleet will be up to ECan councilors. (June 24, 2008)