AUSTRALIAN-MADE BIO-CRUDE OIL TO SLASH FUEL EMISSIONS

Jet fuel and diesel made from plant matter using Australian technology has the potential to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by more than 80 per cent if substituted for fossil fuel-based products.

The reduction in emissions over the full lifecycle was independently modelled by Talent with Energy Pty Ltd based on the properties of bio-crude oil produced from wood residues by Sydney-based company Licella at its pilot facility at Somersby in New South Wales.

Licella's proprietary CAT-HTR process converts a range of forestry and agricultural residues, energy crops and algae to bio-crude oil and renewable chemicals.

The bio-crude can be refined into various fuels, including aviation fuel.

Licella is a featured case study on Biomass Producer, a bio-energy portal for Australia's primary industries, which was launched recently at the 2013 Bioenergy Australia conference at the Crowne Plaza Hunter Valley.

Designed for primary producers and their advisors, regional economic developers, and policymakers, Biomass Producer brings together credible and useful information about supplying biomass and starting a bio-energy project.

"One of the big issues facing bio-energy project developers and local councils is how you pull information together," says Brendan George, a forestry planner and policy specialist with the NSW Department of Primary Industries.

"We can all Google and find thousands of results, but how can we get to a source that we're confident about? This website is important – now we don't have to start at square one."

The Rural Industries Research & Development Corporation (RIRDC) developed the website as part of a national bio-energy strategy for the primary industries sector. The strategy was developed by RIRDC and its partners in the National Primary Industries Research, Development and Extension Framework. Partners include: the bio-energy industry, federal and state governments, relevant rural R&D corporations, CSIRO and universities.