Agriculture Minister says WA has ‘obvious need’ for low carbon fuel industry

The West Australian Countryman

Agriculture, mining, aviation and maritime are four essential industries in WA that are searching for low carbon fuel alternatives to pave the way for a net zero emissions future.

WA’s economy is heavily reliant on diesel, which is why the race is on now to produce a lower carbon alternative.

Being the largest State in Australia, WA also has some of the most remote communities and lowest population densities spread out across the regions.

State Agriculture Minister Jackie Jarvis said at the 2024 Bioenergy Australia WA Low Carbon Fuels Summit on October 11 there was no question that developing a low carbon liquid fuel industry was needed as part of WA’s transition to a clean energy future.

“We still have small remote communities that rely on diesel generators,” Ms Jarvis said.

“WA has a very small population spread out across a very large landmass as well as a large portion of our population being fly in fly out workers.

“Our two biggest industries - mining and agricultural - rely heavily on diesel for their energy needs.

“Diesel alone accounts for 88 per cent of our agricultural industries energy needs.”

Ms Jarvis said WA used a billion litres of aviation fuel and 7.9 billion litres of diesel per year.

She said WA’s agricultural industry had much to benefit from developing a low carbon fuel industry, including reducing its own emissions as well as supplying the feedstock needed to develop and maintain this industry.

“Year on year out, yields are increasing and we are getting more grain from less rain,” Ms Jarvis said.

“WA has the most efficient dryland farmers in the world.”

Currently 90 per cent of grain grown in WA is exported and WA already exports canola to countries such as China and the EU, where it is used for biofuel production.

Ms Jarvis said competition between developing a domestic low carbon fuel industry and global demand for Australian canola from other countries would be an issue as global demand for feedstock to produce low carbon fuel grew.

She said WA producers needed to be convinced of the value of supporting a domestic low carbon fuel economy to secure feedstock supply into the future amid growing global demand.

“The WA State Government absolutely supports the development of this industry,” Ms Jarvis said.

“We have made a $2 billion contribution to the development of this industry, with more than half of this funding going into regional WA.”

She said developing a domestic low carbon fuel industry would have many benefits for regional communities in WA, including jobs not only during the set-up phase of biofuel processing plants but also long-term jobs for ongoing low carbon fuel production.