Overview of Bioenergy in Australia, by Rural Industries Research and Development Corporation, and Bioenergy Australia
Although the bioenergy industry is not a small player on the local clean and renewable energy scene, providing 0.9percent of Australia’s electricity generation, there is room to improve suggests the Overview of Bioenergy in Australia.
Primarily, the report suggests, more research and development (R&D) work needs to be undertaken in order to learn what feedstocks are best suited to the Australian landscape, and what technologies can best service the Australian bioenergy industry.
In order to become competitive in the bioenergy industry, Australia needs to develop its own feedstocks and technologies rather than apply those created in Europe and the United States where bioenergy funding is sizeable and steady, says the report.
Citing a 2008 report released by The Clean Energy Council titled The Australian Bioenergy Roadmap, the current report details that bioenergy could potentially provide between 19.8 and 30.7 per cent of Australia’s electricity requirements by 2050, well beyond the 0.9 per cent it currently supplies.
This potential can be realised through more extensive R&D into Australian-specific feedstocks and technology, as previously suggested, but also, says the report, may require additional support such as a buy-in from market drivers such as the oil majors and car manufacturers.
Additionally, increased demand for renewable energy in Australia, such as can be implemented by state and Federal legislation, will propel the bioenergy industry forward, the report indicates.
Bioenergy from Agriculture in Victoria ,by the Victorian Department of Primary Industries, Farm Services.
Echoing ideas expressed in Overview of Bioenergy in Australia, this Victorian specific report also suggests that there is scope for a large increase in bioenergy output.
The Victorian report highlights the need for location-specific R&D, as well as emphasising the pivotal role that farmers can play in establishing bioenergy processes as a more popular and stable source of energy.
Because biowaste is often found in agricultural or horticultural settings, the report explains, farmers can be leaders in implementing bioenergy systems that transforms biowaste into energy.
There is even the potential, says the report, for farmers to convert their land into feedstock sites which would help cement a steady supply of biowaste and bioenergy output that could compel the uptake of bioenergy as a viable energy source.
With farmers leading the way in bioenergy production and biowaste supply, it is hoped – the report goes on to say – that other industries would follow suit, and that other parties would join in and capitalise by establishing a bioenergy-to-grid chain.
