Japan: Govt eyes boosting domestic biofuel output

The Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Ministry plans to introduce new legislation to establish measures to boost domestic biofuel production, according to ministry sources.

The ministry will set up a team to discuss details with other ministries and agencies, the sources said.
It plans to submit a bill to the ordinary Diet session next year.

Under the envisioned law, the ministry plans to ease regulations so biofuel producers that use domestic raw materials will be able to build a factory on the farm where the crops are harvested, which will cut transportation costs.

The discussion group also will consider cutting or waiving property tax on production plants, and devising a way to cover losses in case of a poor harvest due to bad weather.

For firms that produce a gasoline-biofuel mixture, the government will discuss subsidization to cover the gasoline tax, currently imposed at 53.8 yen per liter.

With this measure, the ministry hopes to bring down domestically produced biofuel prices to less than the currently targeted 150 yen per liter, to be competitive with Brazilian biofuel, which is sold as cheaply as 100 yen per liter.

Daily Yomiuri