WA could become Australia’s leader in renewable fuel production

Future Energy Australia has written to Premier Mark McGowan, outlining a unique opportunity to support the creation of a credible, commercially proven opportunity to develop a pipeline of 20 renewable fuel biorefineries in WA.

Fully realised, the project pipeline of 20 biorefineries, including hydrogen, jet fuel and diesel, would create significant benefits for WA fuel security, carbon abatement, regional development and jobs.

• Approximately 3000 new jobs
• More than $2 billion in capital investment
• $1 billion in annual economic value added
• Carbon reduction of 3.4 million tonnes of carbon dioxide per annum
• Annual production of 2.2 million barrels of renewable diesel, providing onshore fuel security for Western Australia
• By-products can help regenerate the wheat belt and aid food security in WA
• A circular economy solution generating the best outcome for WA per tonne of biomass.

FEA’s project not only generates the best overall economic value per tonne of biomass for WA, it is also a significantly better option than utilising biomass for combustion or export in carbon reduction, job growth and creation of value-adding downstream industries.

The first project is shovel ready. The only constraint is the long-term availability of forestry biomass. FEA can have the first project operational before the end of 2022 with some modest assistance from the WA Government. The WA Government (via the Forest Products Commission) has the capability, through a private treaty backed by an Investment Security Guarantee, to enter a 10+ year agreement for the supply of biomass. A significant amount of this biomass residue is currently being burned or left to decompose in situ, creating negative environmental impacts.

This is a strategic fuel security and transport decarbonisation opportunity for Western Australia.