New Argentine biofuels bill to extend support to sugar industry

In Argentina, a new biofuels bill was introduced by the federal government extending biofuels incentives to the Argentine sugar industry. The national biofuels bill was signed in March, and mandates a 5% ethanol or biodiesel blend, as well as extending incentives for domestic biofuels projects owned at least 50% by Argentines.

The fast-growing Argentine biodiesel industry will export more than 1.5 million metric tons of biodiesel in 2008 at facilities built by Unitec Bio, Molinos Rio de la Plata, Louis Dreyfus, Patagonia Bioenergia, Explora and GEA Biodiesel among others. Companies such as Royal Caribbean have been procuring biodiesel from Argentina in recent months.

The ethanol industry has been slower to develop in Argentina and the country is not among the world’s top 15 producers.

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