MEDIA RELEASE: Bioenergy Vision to complement Tasmania's renewables future

Guy Barnett, Minister for Energy and Renewables

While Tasmania is the undoubted national leader in terms of renewable energy generation in the hydro and wind sectors, there is still huge untapped potential in renewable bioenergy.

Bioenergy is the largest source of renewable energy globally, contributing over 20 per cent of energy supply in countries such as Finland and Sweden.

However, uptake in Australia is lagging, and Tasmania can once again lead our nation in an innovative renewable industry.

The Rockliff Liberal Government is finalising its Bioenergy Vision for Tasmania to help further boost our renewable energy credentials and help Australia transform away from the use of fossil fuels.

"Modern bioenergy is one of the most widely used renewable energy sources in the world. The Bioenergy Vision sets out how Tasmania can unlock private sector investment in bioenergy in Tasmania, increasing employment, reducing waste and greenhouse gas emissions while producing more Tasmanian renewable energy,’’ Minister Barnett said.

"Bioenergy is energy produced from organic matter. It can be produced from almost any organic matter, including agricultural, industrial, municipal and forestry origin waste.

"We sit on a huge untapped energy potential for bioenergy in Tasmania, with more than 1.3 million tonnes of solid organic waste and residues and 7.8 million tonnes of liquid organic waste and residues produced in Tasmania each year from agriculture, industry, municipal and forestry sources.

"Tasmania is currently leading the nation by being 100 per cent self-sufficient in renewable electricity and we have also legislated to be 200 per cent by 2040, and bioenergy has the potential to make a significant contribution to our future renewable energy profile.

"Bioenergy can produce a wide variety of energy outputs, including electricity, heat, fuels such as methane, and transport fuels for cars, boats, and planes. As biomass can be regrown sustainably, bioenergy is globally recognised as renewable energy. It can displace fossil fuels in almost every market and reduce greenhouse gas emissions,’’ Minister Barnett said.

In Sweden, bioenergy accounts for more than one-third of all energy used and biomass has provided about 60 per cent of the fuel for district heating.

Bioenergy is currently the largest source of energy in Sweden and is the main reason why Sweden has reduced its territorial emissions of carbon dioxide by 29 percent in official statistics since 1990.

In order to achieve the phase-out of fossil energy, the use of bioenergy will continue to increase, both in Sweden and within the European Union.

To support the development of a local bioenergy industry in Tasmania, the Rockliff Liberal Government has committed $10.1 million over four years to replace and upgrade our ageing fleet of fossil fuel boilers in schools, hospitals and correctional facilities to improve environmental, social and economic outcomes.

This investment is expected to displace fossil fuels, such as natural gas, in some of the boilers across 20 sites around the State.

A number of Tasmanian businesses are already harnessing bioenergy, including Austral Bricks which uses sawdust to heat the brick-making kiln, Cascade Brewery which displaced natural gas with biogas generated through installation of an anaerobic digester and Timberlink, which burns sawdust from the timber milling process, that would otherwise need to be disposed of or sold, to produce heat energy for the facility to dry sawn wood.

Austral Bricks, which is based at Longford, has been carbon neutral since 2014 and uses the sawdust residue from most of Tasmania’s regional sawmills.

Austral produces 13 million bricks per year and uses all Tasmanian raw materials so it is a great example of a self-sufficient business that has been operating at Longford since 1974

The Bioenergy Vision for Tasmania can be accessed at: https://www.stategrowth.tas.gov.au/recfit/future_industries/bioenergy