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Biofuels Updated: 11 Dec 2007

Gull Force 10

Gull's new Force 10 premium-grade petrol has out-boxed the heavyweights of the oil industry by qualifying as New Zealand's first approved biofuel.

It's a bold move by Gull in the face of opposition from the local representatives of Japanese car manufacturers. They say that 10 percent ethanol in petrol will damage the engines of our vast fleet of used Japanese imports.

Gull Force 10 is an E10 (10 percent ethanol; 90 percent gasoline) 98-octane blend. As at December 2007, it was available from 11 service stations in Auckland and the upper North Island. Over the next few months Gull plans to convert all its premium pumps (currently 95-octane) to this E10 98-octane blend. Gull also intends its blend to be a few cents cheaper than what the competition might offer.

Gull's Force 10 is aimed at owners of newer high-performance cars, which side-steps any problems it may have in older used imports. If you've got the right car, you'll get more power and possibly better economy.

Whether the car companies like it or not, biofuel is here to stay. The Biofuels Bill makes sure of that. The Bill's Biofuel Sales Obligation requires oil companies to sell biofuel from 2008 onwards, starting at a very low rate of just over half a percent of total sales and increasing to 3.4 percent by 2012.