Queensland has attracted Oceania Biofuels to Gladstone to establish Australia’s first commercial sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) biorefinery.
The Queensland Government launched the State’s first Biofutures Roadmap and Action Plan back in 2016 to help establish Queensland as a world-leading and sustainable region for the Biofutures industry.
Queensland has now signed an MoU with airline giant Qantas and Airbus to unlock the state’s potential to manufacture SAF in the local area of Gladstone, as part of that Roadmap.
Qantas and Airbus have committed to investing a combined $307m to develop a local SAF industry and have lobbied the federal government to do more to create the necessary policy framework and incentives needed to properly boost investment. The Queensland biofuel refinery will be the first project funded under the joint partnership. It is not lost on the QLD or Federal Government that Australia needs to substitute ethanol in fuel and offer significant tax breaks to renewable fuels if it wants to reach its international climate targets.
Queensland has attracted Oceania Biofuels to Gladstone to establish Australia’s first commercial sustainable aviation fuel biorefinery. The $500m facility, is a significant step in growing the emerging biofutures industry and, “strengthens the work towards creating a sustainable biomanufacturing and bioenergy sector for Queensland, fuelling the future economy and contributing to Australia’s decarbonisation targets,” said Steven Miles, QLD Deputy Premier.
The sustainable aviation fuel biorefinery project will be a world-class facility using existing feedstock supply chains and world-class proven technology, built in the Yarwun Industrial Precinct.
Current biofuel options available in Australia require engine modifications, additional technology, or blending. Oceania Biofuel’s renewable diesel and sustainable aviation fuel is a like-for-like fuel that can go directly into today’s engines and substantially reduce carbon emissions for those vehicles.
“Queensland has risen to the challenge of addressing supply chain vulnerabilities,” added the Deputy Premier, “and is making great progress toward reshoring manufacturing and pioneering new ways of using products like bioethanol and sugarcane bagasse in the manufacturing process.”
Sustainable aviation fuel and renewable diesel are the greenest available fuel alternatives that can be used in our planes and vehicles today while the world develops new technologies to power the vehicles of the future.
In comparison, conventional fossil fuels are made from crude oil. To make fossil-based fuels such as diesel, crude oil is removed from the ground, transported to a refinery, and purified.
Biodiesel is a renewable fuel made from vegetable oils and/or animal fats. Although it combusts in an engine in a similar way to fossil diesel, Biodiesel is not chemically identical to conventional diesel. When used undiluted it can damage some engine components and fuel distribution networks, so almost always needs to be blended with conventional diesel at a 5% to 20% blend ratio.
Renewable diesel is made from renewable resources such as natural fats, vegetable oils, and greases. Although the feedstock used to produce renewable diesel is a sustainable organic material, the final product is chemically identical to conventional diesel and is therefore completely compatible with existing fuel infrastructure and can be used as a 100% drop in replacement fuel.
Airlines already using at least 20% biofuels in their tanks are: Airbus, United Airlines, Delta Airlines, KLM, Scandinavian Airlines, Finnair, Alaska Airlines, JetBlue Airlines, American Airlines.