How used cooking oil, sugar cane, poo could be used as energy in Australia

by Lachlan Leeming

The Daily Telegraph

Australia desperately needs to rev up a domestic renewable aviation fuel industry that could be worth $12 billion, proponents say – and sugar cane and even used cooking oils could be the keys.

Sustainable Aviation Fuel Alliance Australia and New Zealand chairwoman former Federal Labor MP, Terri Butler, said the time was now for industry and government to hit the accelerator on new-age fuels for planes, having fallen behind the US and Europe.

Ms Butler, talking at a Bioeconomy Summit in Sydney on Monday, said Australia was playing “catch-up footy” with other nations.

“We’re in a bit of a policy vacuum in Australia. If we don’t get moving we’re going to get left behind,” she said.

She said hydrogen and electric “aren’t going to be a viable option for decarbonising long haul flights”, amid mounting pressure both from governments and consumers to drop emission levels.

“Why’s that a problem? We’re Australia – we’re a long flight from everywhere else in the world,” she said.

Sustainable aviation fuel can be made from agricultural and industry by-products such as sugarcane and even used cooking oil and fats – which Australia has in abundance.

Sarah Chambers of the NSW Department of Regional Economic Development told the conference: “We have a really significant amount of biogenic feedstock, particularly in regional NSW.”

It comes after the Australian Airports Association warned two months ago international airlines could cut back their long-haul, high-emissions flights to Australia as various countries enforce emission limits on companies.

The only Aussie airline using sustainable aviation fuel is Qantas, which uses it when it refuels overseas.

According to NSW Government analysis, the market value of such fuel could form an $11.9 billion chunk of the Australian market by 2050, with NSW making up $4.8 billion of that.