Following the official welcome address by Dr Roslyn Prinsley, Chair of Bioenergy Australia – who commented that it was really exciting to see Bioenergy Australia develop from 4 to 80 members since its establishment in 1997 – the conference was opened by Queensland Minister for Natural Resources, Mines and Energy the Hon Stephen Robertson MP.

Minister Robertson underlined the need for bioenergy to be used as a way to negotiate the sharply increasing energy use in Queensland and the state’s reliance on coal.

Keynote speaker Dr Göran Berndes, from the Department of Energy and Environment, Chalmers University, Sweden, discussed the key challenges for bioenergy as production expands rapidly, analysing the sustainability of large-scale energy crops. Dr Berndes, who is the international leader of IEA Bioenergy Task 30 (Short Rotation Crops for Bioenergy) focused on the constraints and opportunities faced by bioenergy in relation to land and water.

“If we want to see biomass as an important contributor to the energy system on a global level, we will have to see dedicated biomass production systems – establishing large areas of plantation for the purpose of providing biomass for energy,” he said.

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In his keynote address, Professor Michael Borowitzka, Algae Research and Development Centre, Murdoch University, Western Australia shifted the focus to algae as a source of bioenergy.

“Algae has suddenly become very interesting for biofuels production,” he began.

He outlined that while the use of algae for bioenergy is technically possible, the challenge has been, and continues to be, to produce algae biofuel reliably and economically at a very large scale.

“Technically we’ve been doing it for 30 years; economically, we’ve still got a long way to go,” he said.

Professor Borowitzka also cautioned that processes for producing bioenergy will be different for different algae species.

“There will not be one process. We have a number of people working on different processes, and I’m sure there will be a number that will be successful.”

Drawing on examples from around the world, Professor Borowitzka shared his extensive knowledge of the commercial production of microalgae, providing a sound overview that served delegates well in the proceeding days of discussion and analysis of the sector.

Over the two days, the program included more than 90 presentations, covering government policies and programs, heat and power, liquid biofuels, biogas, algae, short rotation energy crops, international collaboration through the International Energy Association (IEA) bioenergy division, biochar and biomass as a metallurgical reductant,

diverse case studies, lifecycle analyses and health and safety aspects of using biomass.

Well known bioenergy figure, Professor Ralph Sims, who has been working at the IEA in Paris, was the dinner speaker and also moderated a stimulating panel discussion on advancing the bioenergy industry in Australia.

A preceding technical tour on 8 December visited a number of bioenergy sites, including:

  • An anaerobic digester at AJ Bush near Beaudesert
  • The Ti Tree BioEnergy’s bioreactor facility near Ipswich
  • The Cambi technology at Oxley
  • Creek wastewater treatment plant
  • Rocklea, a piggery digester using a floating cover at Grantham
  • The University of Queensland’s Pongamia research plot at Gatton, where this tree legume is being researched and developed to provide a biofuels feedstock.

During the conference, the Rural Industries Research and Development Corporation (RIRDC) launched the report entitled Sustainable Production of Bioenergy – A review of global bioenergy sustainability frameworks and assessment systems. Click here for a more detailed look at the report.