Manly Council will modify one of its fleet of four buses to use environmentally clean biodiesel – a fuel made from plant and animal oils.
According to Manly Resident Chris Roberston, a number of companies are making the new fuel, including Australian Biodiesel, which made it from Manly restaurants’ waste oil.
Mr Robertson said that from Manly Wharf alone Coastal Recycled Cooking Oils Pty Ltd collected 1000 litres of oil each week. This is enough to power a single rubbish removal truck for 10 days.
In an official Minute, Manly Mayor Peter Macdonald said the fuel could be cheaper than ordinary petrol and was kinder to the environment.
“The use of biodiesel has already been tested by councils in Newcastle, Camden and Leichhardt, with positive results in terms of a reduction in fuel emissions,” he said.
Unfortunately, the Federal Government does not see things the same way. The renewable fuel sector says investors are being turned away because the Fuel Tax Act 2006, which came into effect on July 1, has reduced its access to the market.  Alternative fuels, such as biosiesel, liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) and compressed natural gas (CNG), are not eligible for fuel tax credit until July 1, 2011. The new Act makes all off-road uses of biodiesel non-competitive. Most regional biodiesel projects will now be unviable and several potential producers are considering terminating their projects.  But established businesses, which are closer to John Howard’s heart than any developing green technologies, will benefit from tax cuts on their use of damaging fossil fuels
Bob Gordon from Renewable Fuels Australia says the Federal Government needs to go back to the drawing board to make the legislation fairer.
He pointed out that in the rest of the world, all those countries that have emerging biofuel industries have high tariff regimes to protect them against imports until they’re established in the market. These countries are surging ahead with the biofuels industry, while Australia is in danger of strangling it at birth.  Even this country’s current role model in all things political, the United States, provides tax incentives for the production and use of non-petroleum fuels, including biodiesel.  
“Australia is going in the opposite direction. Progress is going to freeze in Australia, if not worse.”, he said.
This is consistent with John Howard’s approach to all things connected to the environment.  Short term political gain always comes first.  But at least we can look forward to some improvements in the air quality in Manly.
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