Queensland Greenlights Advanced Drop-In Biofuels Project for Military, Aviation, Marine
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) In Queensland, the state premier Anna Palaszczuk, the Minister for State Development Anthony Lynham, and the Minister for Energy, Biofuels and Water Supply Mark Bailey jointly announced that a AUD $16 million advanced biofuels pilot plant will be built at Southern Oil Refining’s Yarwun plant at Gladstone. They described the project as “a giant step towards securing a large-scale biofuels industry in Queensland.”
If successful, the pilot plant will be expanded to a large commercial-scale refinery costing $150 million and producing 200 million litres of advanced biofuel annually, suitable for military, marine and aviation use.
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The plant will use biomass material such as sugarcane bagasse and possibly prickly acacia as feedstock for the production of bio crude oil, which will then be distilled into saleable kerosene and diesel products.
It is expected to be operational by later this year and within the next three years aims to have produced one million litres of fuel for use in field trials by the US navy as part of its Great Green Fleet initiative, and also by the Australian Navy.
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Southern Oil Refining Managing Director Tim Rose said he was delighted to announce his company’s decision to locate the biofuel pilot plant in Gladstone.
“For the past few months, we have been assessing whether to site this important piece of technology at our Wagga Wagga plant in New South Wales or at our new re-refinery in Gladstone,” Mr Rose said. “Our decision was made easier with the announcement of the Queensland Government’s Bio Futures Roadmap which is the only forward-thinking policy in Australia in this critical area. “This demonstration plant will be a big step towards creating a clean transportation future.”
Mr Rose said his company had been working with the Australian Defence Force for some time to develop green fuel technology that satisfied the requirements of the US and Royal Australian navies and the Great Green Fleet vision. “The results of our preliminary investigations have been very encouraging and we’re now ready to move to this one million litres a year pilot plant,” Rose said. “Once our biofuel is accepted by both navies, it will open the door to a commercial-scale refinery capable of meeting the ADF’s needs and provide green fuel opportunities for aviation and other heavy transport industries – and Queensland will be a world leader in this space.” READ MORE
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