Program Overview

Background and Long-Term Strategy

Biofuels

Demand for alternative feedstocks for fuels, electricity, chemicals and a range of commercial products has grown dramatically throughout the world in the early years of the 21st century. This demand is driven by the high price of oil, domestic government policy to promote alternatives and reduced dependence on foreign oil, as well as growing efforts to reduce net emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases. The health benefits of biofuels as well as the benefits to regional development are also often drivers.

Australia faces a complex set of challenges and opportunities with respect to future energy supplies, policy and technology. An unprecedented interest in bioenergy in the international arena, as well as Federal and State governments who are keen to promote new industries, and investors and engineers keen to promote new biofuel and bioenergy technologies, means that bioenergy is becoming a tangible option for the future. A move to bioenergy will have major implications for farms and regions.

High oil prices are already having an impact on agriculture as input costs increase, not just for fuel, but for other products reliant on oil such as fertisliser.  Farming systems have been partly buffered from increasing oil prices due to changes in the way systems run (for example legumes reducing dependence on nitrogen-based fertilisers, minimum tillage etc) but are reaching limits and are increasingly ‘energy exposed'. The challenge is to become more energy efficient and self-sufficient at farm and regional level.

Methane and greenhouse gases 

Australia's National Greenhouse Gas Inventory estimates that on-farm activities (excluding energy use) produce around 19 percent of overall national emissions, making the agricultural sector the second largest source of greenhouse gases after electricity production.

Methane is the dominant agricultural greenhouse gas in Australia, with methane from livestock representing 12 per cent of national greenhouse gas emissions. Reducing methane emissions is one of the most cost-effective ways to realize immediate environmental benefits due to methane's potency as a greenhouse gas and short atmospheric lifetime. The potential for capture and use of methane from livestock is greatest in the intensive livestock industries, which are estimated to contribute three per cent of Australia's total methane emissions, or 25 per cent of the methane from livestock.

Bioenergy and bioproducts 

There are several initiatives in Australia and overseas to move towards a ‘bio-based economy' which provide opportunities to diversify in the biomass production and manufacturing sectors. Utilisation of current biomass material, as well as that which could become available as a result of new plantings or production systems, has the potential to reduce Australia's fossil fuel requirements and provide raw materials for a wide range of high value products.

Key long term strategies

These are currently under review for development of the Program's five-year plan, as follows:

• Objective 1: Develop sustainability guidelines for the Australian bioenergy and bioproducts industries 
• Objective 2: Assess and adapt existing Australian and international feedstocks and develop new feedstocks for bioenergy and bioproducts 
• Objective 3: Scope, compare and develop energy and cost efficient technologies, infrastructure and logistics for harvesting and processing biomass
• Objective 4: Evaluate conversion technologies and select, research and develop those which are competitive for Australian circumstances 
• Objective 5: Develop bioproducts that complement bioenergy production systems
• Objective 6: Identify sustainable transition pathways for bioenergy in the context of a range of alternative energy futures, given different climate change, economic and policy scenarios
• Objective 7: Develop and implement an outreach program using existing and new networks to deliver the capacity of Australia's rural industries to utilise the results of this program

Methane to Markets

• development and adaptation of methane capture and use technology for application in the Australian intensive livestock industries 
• reduction of the uncertainty, risk and cost of installing methane capture and use systems
• effective communication of the project outcomes
• facilitation of commercialisation of on-farm systems for methane capture and use technology