Biofuel mixes to be authorized for vehicle use starting today

SANTIAGO.- The National Energy Commission announced that the country has taken a new step to diversify the energy matrix today, publishing a decree in the Diario Oficial that authorizes the mix of bioethanol and biodiesel with gasoline and diesel respectively for vehicular use, making up 2% or 5% of the final volume of the mix. 

According to the CNC, the limits imposed on the mixtures are due to the fact that Chilean bus fleets are able to run on these mixture levels without operational problems. 

Currently, the country still has very few providers of biofuels, which are generated using a wide array of raw materials.  Production processes being developed in Chile employ used frying oil, plant oils, animal fats, the jatropha plant and microalgae.

The minister of Energy, Marcelo Tokman, has said that the publication of the decree “over time, will allow us to reduce our vulnerability to fluctuations in international oil prices”.