Qld industry leaders come together for biofuels push
A coalition of Queensland agriculture and manufacturing bodies is calling for consistency in the development of a national biofuel industry.
Queensland industry representatives are calling on the Federal Government for nationally consistent biofuels regulations as consultation starts on development of new rules for the sector.
Representatives from CANEGROWERS Queensland, Australian Sugar Manufacturers, QUT and more gathered at Federation Mall yesterday to call for the Federal Government to introduce a national ethanol mandate.
Earlier this week, the government launched consultation on a national demand mechanism for low-carbon liquid fuels, including ethanol and biodiesel.
CANEGROWERS CEO Dan Galligan said this was “a big deal for growers”.
“The Federal Government deserves credit for the consultation. It is the most significant development in national biofuels policy in decades,” Galligan said.
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CANEGROWERS is backing calls for a nationally consistent, enforceable and progressively increasing blending requirement on fuel wholesalers for Australian-made ethanol and biodiesel.
“Having grower representatives and millers here alongside biofuel producers, researchers, regional leaders and national security experts shows how seriously this opportunity is being taken.”
Australian Sugar Manufacturers (ASM) CEO Ash Salardini said the federal consultation was a critical opportunity to adopt bioethanol and biodiesel.
“Pick your global crisis – climate change, energy insecurity, cost-of-living pressures, or the deindustrialisation of our regional economies – locally made bioethanol and biodiesel will be part of the solution to these challenges,” Salardini said.
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Australia’s sugar industry currently processes 30 million tonnes of sugarcane per year, and could potentially produce more than 2.5 million litres of ethanol per year.
“Bioethanol is a homegrown fuel that has some of the lowest carbon abatement costs in Australia, and the scale to be a real fuel security solution. The sugar industry alone could produce the equivalent to 14 per cent of Australia’s petrol needs,” Salardini said.
He added that the industries were not asking for a government handout, but rather for the Federal Government to create a market for a biofuel that is cheaper than fossil fuels that Australia can make today.
“We need big thinking from this Government,” Salardini said.
“The best policy will reduce emissions at the lowest practical cost while also making the country more resilient to an increasingly insecure world, and that includes providing fuel security and affordability.”
Galligan said the consultation had created real momentum.
“The industry is ready to work with government. Now we need to get on with it.”
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