Pretoria — Draft regulations on the mandatory blending of biofuels with petrol or diesel has been published in the Government Gazette for public comment.

Through the draft regulations the department of energy is striving to promote the blending of locally manufactured biofuels into the existing petrol or diesel pool to supplement local fuels.

It also seeks to ensure that biofuels manufacturers receive a fair price for biofuels supplied to blending facilities while it also wants to send out a clear signal to investors regarding securing the off-take of biofuels by oil companies.

The drafted regulation published on Tuesday deal with the conditions of mandatory blending and record keeping for fuel pricing administration purposes among others.

Interested parties are called on to submit comments in order to help the department to develop and implement a biofuels regulatory framework.

Comments should be submitted to muzi.mkhize@energy.gov.za or mashudu.sinthumule@energy.gov.za or mmarena.mphahlele@energy.gov.za, no later than 18 November 2011.

The draft regulations are available at www.energy.gov.za.

Additionally the department is working on two biofuel projects (namely the Break-even Price of Biodiesel and Bioethanol and the Determination of the Bioethanol Blending Value) that are important to the development of pricing and financial support mechanisms.