New Queensland ethanol plant gets $2.2 million funding, will create 400 jobs in construction phase

A new ethanol plant fuelled by 200,000 tonnes of corn, wheat, sorghum and bar­ley was to be built at Casino, in the far north-east of Queensland, within two years wrote Shan Goodwin in The Land (11/10/2007, p. 6).

New Queensland ethanol plant gets $2.2 million funding, will create 400 jobs in construction phase

A new ethanol plant fuelled by 200,000 tonnes of corn, wheat, sorghum and bar­ley was to be built at Casino, in the far north-east of Queensland, within two years wrote Shan Goodwin in The Land (11/10/2007, p. 6). Funding boost of $2.2 million:

Bioreactor: how to make oil growing algae on exhaust gas piped from power stations and remove 75 per cent of CO2 from power station exhaust

For its supporters the idea of growing single-celled algae on exhaust gas piped from power stations was the ultimate in recycling; and now one of them, CleanTech, has developed a bioreactor based on a patent held by a group of scientists at the Ohio Coal Research Centre, at the University of Ohio, reported The Economist, (8/9/2007, p. 6).

Seven plants currently being considered as promising biofuel crops banned as noxious weeds in parts of Australia

The Queensland-based Invasive Species Council has assessed weed risks posed by 18 biofuel crops currently proposed as solutions to cutting greenhouse emissions, wrote science and environment reporter Rosslyn Beeby in The Canberra Times (4/10/2007, p.11).

Regional groups can develop biodiesel industry in their local community: “starting block” for sustainable industry

A new report has found that by working together to refine oil crops specifically grown for on-farm fuel supplies, regional groups could develop an economically sustainable biodiesel industry in their local community, reported Farm Weekly (27/9/2007, p.20).

Turnbull’s tangle: palm oil grown to earn Australian subsidies clears SE Asia forests and creates greenhouse effect, Australia to pay Indonesia to replant

The death of Indonesia’s forests was ahead in 20 years, aided by Australiabn subsidies for imported Palm oil. The managing director of Australian Renewable Fuels, John Lillywhite, said the government should not be subsidising biodiesel made from imported palm oil as it did little to help development of the local industry. According to Angus Grigg in Jakarta, environment minister Malcolm Turnbull pledged during last month’s Asia-Pacific Economic Co­operation group meeting to put forests at the “top of the climate-change agenda”.

Grain Pool signs historic 10 year agreement with Primary Energy: 500,000 metric tonnes of grain consumed, 160 million litres of ethanol produced plus useful by-products

The Grain Pool had signed an historic 10 year agreement to supply grain to Primary Energy’s proposed bio-fuel facility in Kwinana, with accu­mulation set to commence during the 2008-09 harvest, reported Farm Weekly (20/9/2007, p. 20).

First Aus export of biodiesel leaves for Asia, US: green alternative the ‘way of the future’, says Natural Fuels chair

Australia’s first export shipment of biodiesel has been loaded on a freighter bound for Asia and the US, as former Liberal leader and company director John Hewson described the green alternative as the way of the future, reported The Australian Financial Review (3/8/2007, p.17).

Northern Australia – the future food bowl: work on to identify eight to 12 small-scale sustainable precincts to potentially open up to 10,000 to 20,000 hectares across the north outside the Ord

With the non-occurrence of La Nina and the related worsening drought situation across most of Australia, it was high time to focus on the possibilities of Northern Australia and the region west of Ord river with relatively abundant water and the added benefits the north presented in reducing greenhouse gases, as the potential food bowl of the nation, said Senator Alan Eggleston, Senator for Western Australia, member of the Government’s Backbench Policy Committee on Health and Ageing, Liberal Party of Australia, in the Commonwealth Senate on 18 September 2007, quoting Mark Lewis of the Western Australia Department of Agriculture, who is the manager of NRM and industry development for rangelands.

New lobby group emerges at Brisbane conference: ethanol needs to get much cheaper than petrol, says Biofuels Association of Australia

A new lobby group emerged at the Australian Ethanol and Biodiesel Conference in Brisbane, wrote Graham Fuller in Queensland Country Life (27/9/2007, p.13).

Spaghetti spike: Cost of 1kg of durum flour, used to make pasta, risen in last two months from $A0.43 to $A0.75 result of increasing demand for biofuels

According to Colleen Barry, Italians will soon be paying up to 20 per cent more for their daily serving of pasta, be it fettuccine, linguine or spaghetti, reported The Canberra Times (15/9/2007, p. 21).