Bio Products Opportunity

With the Australian Ethanol and Biodiesel conference happening this week in Brisbane, biofuel user groups Biodiesel Association of Australia and Renewable Fuels Australia are joining together to form the Biofuels Association of Australia (BAA Inc).

The move to merge the two prominent biofuel lobbies was prompted by a perceived need to more heavily promote the use of renewable fuels in Australia and push for greater government support in light of the upcoming federal election.

“This is a bold step as it challenges both ethanol and biodiesel to work for the common good of biofuels, as well as those vested interest factors that distinguish ethanol and biodiesel as cleaner burning renewable fuels,” said Bob Gordon, executive director the Australian Renewable Fuels Association. “Australia’s role in [the global biofuel market] has yet to be determined, and every effort has to be made of the opportunity of the federal election to effectively get this message across to both the Coalition Government and the Kevin Rudd Labor Party alternative.”

(Sources: North Queensland Register, Biofuels Australasia)

Updates will be sparse for the remainder of this week while I’m travelling, however the site will be running full steam ahead next week. In the meantime, keep a close eye on the Frankfurt Auto Show (currently underway), because there’s some great ideas coming out of there: the Opel Flextreme, which is based on the same E-flex plug-in hybrid platform at the Chevrolet Volt, emits only 40g of CO2 per 100km, thanks to its diesel recharging engine; the Volvo ReCharge plug-in hybrid, with a flex-fuel engine; and the Hyundai i-Blue fuel cell concept car.

See you next week!

With ethanol likely to be on the table during this week’s APEC summit, NSW Regional Development Minister Tony Kelly is urging Prime Minister John Howard to keep ethanol out of any potential trade deal with the US to save the burgeoning industry in Australia.

According to Mr Kelly, jobs in the biofuels industry could be jeopardized if ethanol imports from the US increased. The industry “helps sustain employees that are involved at plants at Gunnedah, Narrandera and the township of Manildra itself, as well as Nowra,” he said.

“That just shows you how the ethanol industry can create an enormous number of jobs in rural and regional NSW, and how that can come under threat if we do some deal with America.”

Mr Kelly also pointed out the environmental benefits of Australian ethanol, primarily from sugarcane and wheat, over its US counterpart which is made from corn.

“The ethanol that’s produced by the Manildra Group at Nowra is much better for the environment than biofuels or ethanol that’s produced by corn in the US because what the Manildra Group use is the wheat starch waste and that leads to some 37 per cent reduction in greenhouse gas emissions,” he said.

(Source: ABC News)

The future of the Australian biofuel industry is looking brighter, with the total production level expected to double to 600 megalitres in 2008, well in excess of the Federal government’s 2010 target of 350 ML.

APAC Biofuels, an industry consultant, released the predictions this week to the Advanced Global Biofuel Summit in Bangkok, also states that production in Australia could exceed 1000 ML by 2010. 

Other key points of the report:

• Producers may have trouble competing “in the lower value energy market with higher value food commodities”
• Drought, consumer acceptance and quality are limiting a higher production of biofuels
• Tallow and waste oil are likely to play a much larger role in Australian biodiesel
• Falling feedstock prices are the main driver for increased production of both ethanol and biodiesel.

(Sources: ABC News, The Australian)

While pressure mounts considerably for auto companies in the US to clean up their act, and an impressive range of new technologies make their way on to the market to reduce fuel consumption and emissions, there is still some question about whether or not these innovations will find their way into Australian cars.

General Motors, the US owner of Holden, has recently announced a wide range of fuel-saving innovations to their vehicles, ranging from hybrid powertrains to diesels, direct injection engines and cylinder deactivation. Some models released under the Holden badge in Australia even have hybrid counterparts in the United States, such as the Saturn Vue (known as the Captiva MaXX here). However, despite a recent shift in focus within Holden towards being part of the global GM group rather than considering itself a separate entity, the Melbourne-based car manufacturer has made no suggestions one way or another about importing some of GM’s technology for use in its Australian-made or imported vehicles. Spokesman John Lindsay admitted to the existence of “some (VE Commodore) mules running around with hybrid systems in them”, but said that there are no plans to bring a hybrid Commodore to production at this stage. Similarly there seems to be no move to use more conventional engine technology such as direct injection in their Australian-built engines, let alone much hope for radical projects such as the Chevy Volt to make their way to our shores. Paradoxically, Holden exports a version of the Commodore Omega that is capable of using a 24% ethanol blend to Brazil (under the Chevrolet brand), but will not endorse the use of ethanol concentrations above 10% for its Australian vehicles.

The situation seems paralleled at Ford, with the US branch currently looking into longer-term solutions such as hydrogen-hybrid Focus and HySeries experimental vehicles, as well as an existing range of ethanol-capable and hybrid vehicles and powertrain developments such as continuously variable transmission.  Ford Motor Company Australia recently made the tough decision to close its production of the “Barra” engine at Geelong in favour of importing the more efficient Duratec engine from Detroit, which is a significant move for the industry, however the company has made it clear that the likelihood of seeing a Ford-badged hybrid on Australian roads in the near future is remote.

With the Australian market too small to cost-effectively innovate on a large scale, the auto industry’s best hope is to exploit its global partnerships and import technology to help reduce fuel consumption and emissions from Australian vehicles, but it’s likely that the cultural shift required for the industry to embrace such globalisation may take some time.

(Source: Drive, Carsguide)

While most of the energy news regarding the upcoming APEC summit in Sydney is concerned with nuclear power, the topic of cellulosic ethanol production is also expected to come up during the forum next week, with potentially huge implications for Australia’s ethanol industry.

US President George W. Bush is expected to invite Australia to be part of a plan to produce ethanol from wild grasses, a process also known as cellulosic ethanol production. If cellulosic ethanol becomes economically viable in Australia, it would allow ethanol to be produced from land that is not currently being used for feedstock, currently a major hurdle in the widespread acceptance and use of the fuel.

Recent advances in the United States have proven the&nbspability to produce ethanol&nbspfrom the cellulose in plant matter, such as switchgrass, however the&nbspproduction capacity remains at a small&nbspscale due to cost prohibitions. President Bush is allegedly very interested in&nbspexpanding&nbspUS ethanol production using these methods, and&nbspis expected to brief Howard on recent developments during the APEC summit.

(Source: Sydney Morning Herald) 

The New South Wales Greens have attacked Saab over their “Grrrrrreen” advertising campaign (covered earlier here) through which buyers can offset the predicted carbon emissions from their vehicles through planted trees. The Greens have taken the complaint to the ACCC, accusing the car maker of making deceptive claims about its greenhouse gas emissions.

Lee Rhiannon, from the NSW Greens, says that the Saab vehicles were “relatively fuel-inefficient, had a poor greenhouse gas rating and poor-to-average air pollution rating, according to the Federal Government’s Green Vehicle Guide”. The carbon offset company being used, Greenfleet, is not independently monitored but says that the trees will be planted approximately one year after payment from Saab.

In addition to the carbon offset scheme, Saab also recently launched its BioPower 9-5, which can use any ethanol blend up to 85 per cent, though blends higher than 10 per cent are currently unavailable in Australia.

—

My thoughts: although it’s important to ensure that companies that announce programs such as this act responsibly, to Saab’s credit they are one of the few companies in Australia that has taken any sort of significant step towards reducing the impact of their vehicles. The problem lies not so much with Saab, who have the details of their plan readily available for anyone to see, but with customers who might take the offset as a reason to use more fuel, since the average consumption is being offset. Changing that mentality would yield better results, but it’s also far more difficult than simply attacking advertising.

(Source: Sydney Morning Herald)

Western Australia is setting itself up to rival Queensland as Australia’s ethanol state, if recent events are anything to go by. The submission by industry to WA’s biofuels taskforce has recommended the introduction of an E85 fuel standard, which would combine 85 per cent ethanol with 15 per cent unleaded fuel. Currently the ethanol content of fuel is capped at 10 per cent by federal regulation.

WA state minister for agriculture, Kim Chance (pictured), is supportive of the biofuels industry in Western Australia.

“There is a great potential in WA for alternative fuels such as biodiesel and ethanol to provide significant benefits in both environmental and economic terms,” he said.

“I believe one of the most important benefits a biofuels industry in WA will provide is the boost to rural economies and an increase in employment opportunities.”

Mr Chance recently had the opportunity to drive a Saab 9-5 BioPower, currently the only flex-fuel vehicle available in Australia. He is also likely to support a mandate for minimum biofuel content in all WA fuel, likely a 5 per cent ethanol blend.

“That will be the key issue that Government will be considering, I can feel reasonably confident the Government will be supporting the other recommendations, but the issue of target and mandate around 2010 and 2011 will engender some lively discussion,” he said recently.

E5 is suitable for almost all vehicles, while E85 can only be used in vehicles that have properly modified fuel systems.

(Sources: Farm Weekly, ABC online, The West Australian)

Tasmanians can now use E10 ethanol-blended fuel as of this week, joining the rest of the nation (except for Western Australia). The ethanol blend will be available through all United Petroleum outlets in the state and is available in two varieties, Plus ULP and Boost 98 (both E10 blends mixed with unleaded and premium unleaded, respectively). Both varieties are expected to sell for a few cents per litre less than their petrol equivalents, and can be used in most post-1986 cars (particularly those that use fuel-injection rather than a carburettor).

“Ethanol contains oxygen and it helps the other components in petrol to burn more completely,” says United general manager David Szymczak. “It also has a cleaning effect on the car fuel system.

“Petrol with 10 per cent ethanol blend reduces carbon monoxide and total hydrocarbon emissions, and it contains less toxins and carcinogens than regular unleaded petrol.”

The ethanol used in Australian ethanol blends is made primarily from sugar cane and wheat byproducts. E10 is the highest ethanol blend allowed to be sold in retail outlets due to federal regulations.

(Sources: ABC Online, Mercury)

Fairfax media’s automotive section, Drive, has released an online once-off publication called the Green Motoring Guide, available as a free download. As you might expect, it’s largely drawing from previously published articles (this is made particularly clear where editing has made some parts nonsensical) and won’t give much new information to anyone who is a regular to this site or has simply done some of their own research, but it’s a concise and reasonably accurate introductory guide to the green automotive options available today (and a short discussion on future options). The guide focuses mostly on getting the most out of your existing vehicle and what to look for in a new “greener” car, from the size to the fuel source.

Overall, it is probably worth a read if you want a brief guide to immediately available options for reducing your fuel consumption and emissions, but do your own research and be aware that all journalism, especially when it comes to forecasting technological trends, has an inherent bias (even us, but we admit it - we’re biased towards clean fuels). There’s more to the alternative fuels story than can be covered in one magazine.

Note: The GMG has an error on page 6 regarding the energy content of ethanol fuel. Pure ethanol contains approximately 65% of the energy of unleaded petrol, or about 21 MJ/L (the exact content varies depending on the production source and process). E10, which is 10 per cent ethanol and 90 per cent unleaded petrol, has a proportionally higher energy content - about 3% less than standard RON 91 unleaded.

If you’ll indulge me for a moment, I’d like to take the opportunity to step back from each individual step that we’ve been focusing on here to take a look at the broader perspective.

In 2005, Australia consumed:

- 18,712 million litres of petrol (15,856 ML of which was used in passenger vehicles)
- 8690 million litres of diesel fuel (5,636 ML of which was used in rigid or articulated trucks)
- 1564 million litres of LPG/CNG fuel

Current indicators are that fossil fuel use has increased in the 18 months since this data was recorded; alternative fuel use in transport was not significant enough to appear with these statistics at the time. In terms of fuel production:

- Non-renewable fuel production has increased 446% in the last 30 years
- Renewable fuel has increased 28% in the same period

Clearly these are not the markers of a country that has embraced alternative and renewable fuels, as much of the world is doing. This is both a weakness and an opportunity for us: although we have so far given up the chance to be a world leader in the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions, we have been able to observe a very rapidly maturing field of fossil fuel replacements and make a sensible decision about which is best for the Australian environment. If you’re interested in knowing who the primary contenders are, read on.

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