Is Making Biofuels from Canola the Solution to Australia's Future Jet Fuel Shortages?

Australia Aviation Fuel/Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF)BioRefineries/Renewable Fuel Production Biorefinery/Fuel Production Infrastructure Business News/Analysis Feedstocks Field/Orchard/Plantation Crops/Residues Funding/Financing/Investing Infrastructure Marketing/Market Forces and Sales Opinions Policy Sustainability

April 20, 2026

Print This Article Share it With Friends

by Amy Briggs (ABC News) Australia imports all of the 10 billion litres of jet fuel it burns every year. -- Fuel costs are beginning to bite the Australian aviation industry, generating fresh interest in "biofuels" produced from agricultural feedstocks as a long-term solution to supply shortages.

Qantas and Virgin recently announced cuts to domestic flights, with jet fuel prices rising 150 per cent since the war in the Middle East began.

...

One alternative source of jet fuel proposed by government and industry is "sustainable aviation fuel" (SAF), a type of biofuel that can be made from oilseeds such as canola, as well as sugar cane, agricultural and forestry "residues" such as barley stalks, and even the kind of municipal organic waste that commonly ends up in landfill.

SAF is used in low levels by airlines as part of their fuel mix, but it is not made in Australia.

...

A billions-of-litres thirst for jet fuel

Australia uses about 10 billion litres of jet fuel per year, and that figure is expected to increase by 75 per cent from 2023 to 2050.

...

About 0.2 per cent of Qantas's fuel use is SAF and — even before the current war in the Middle East — the company had committed to using 10 per cent SAF in its fuel mix by 2030. Other global airlines have similar commitments.

So, where will all this SAF come from?

...

"The fact that we basically grow canola here, then we ship it overseas, turn it into sustainable aviation fuel and then buy it back, is nuts," Infrastructure Minister Catherine King recently told David Speers on Insiders.

...

Last year, the federal government launched a $1.1 billion Cleaner Fuels Program to incentivise private investment for biofuel facilities in Australia, and has invested in at least three SAF facilities through the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA).

Earlier this month, it announced a fast-track approvals process for electric truck and biofuels projects, including two SAF facilities.

...

How much feedstock is required?

According to Mr Temminghoff (Max Temminghoff, who leads the team behind the CSIRO's Sustainable Aviation Fuel Roadmap in 2023 report), Australia has enough feedstock for approximately 60 per cent of Australia's aviation fuel demand.

...

This figure assumes technologies being tested now will become commercially viable, opening up opportunities to use municipal and forestry waste.

Original map is interactive

Queensland produces a high volume of feedstocks, including sugar cane and sorghum. Western Australia and New South Wales grow canola. Regional Victoria has available plantation forestry "residues".

How are SAF biofuels made?

The challenge is that different types of feedstocks use different types of technologies to produce SAF.

Two of the main ones are:

HEFA (hydroprocessed esters and fatty acids), which is used for canola or used cooking oil
Alcohol-to-jet (ATJ), which uses sorghum, sugar cane, and agricultural residues.

Each process requires a different kind of refinery, ideally built in an area with lots of its compatible feedstocks.

...

Several planned refineries dedicated to SAF production are in various stages of planning and approval.

The most advanced projects include:

Refinery location	Expected SAF capacity (ML)	SAF production method
Jet Zero, Townsville	100	ATJ (agricultural residues)
HAMR, Mount Gambier	140	ATJ (forestry residues)
Ampol, Brisbane	750	HEFA (canola and other oilseeds)
Jet Zero, Gladstone	402 (combined SAF renewable diesel)	HEFA (canola and other oilseeds)

Jet Zero's Townsville refinery and Ampol's Brisbane refinery are planned to be operational by 2029.

...

How many refineries are needed?

(Airbus's Stephen) Forshaw estimated Australia would need 60 Jet Zero-sized facilities to refine Australia's projected feedstock supply in 2030.

But beyond 2030, he says, we will need many more.

...

This means it would take many years for an investment in SAF to ease fuel shortages, or protect against future price shocks.

...

What would it cost to be viable?

Both the Jet Zero project in Queensland and the HAMR project in South Australia, with similar expected capacities, are estimated to cost at least $800 million.

...

One of the biggest challenges to SAF production is the "green premium", where SAF costs more than conventional jet fuel refined from crude oil.

...

Producing cheaper SAF in Australia is a classic chicken-and-egg situation; for the price to come down, Australia needs to produce more SAF. To do this is needs more refineries. But the high cost of SAF means there isn't domestic demand to justify these refineries.

...

Does this fuel produce fewer emissions?

...

According to a common method of carbon accounting, the CO2 released during biofuel combustion is treated as zero, because the carbon was absorbed from the atmosphere when the plant was growing.

Because of this, advocates claim SAF can reduce greenhouse gas emissions by up to 80 per cent compared to conventional aviation fuel. READ MORE