Biofuel the forgotten renewable energy, report says

Australia's biofuel industry has the potential to add more than 8000 jobs and $1 billion a year in revenue to the economy despite being neglected for more than a decade.

Biofuels in Australia are mainly made from food processing waste.

Queensland University of Technology economists have outlined how Australia could lift its energy security by increasing the levels of locally-produced biofuels and bioproducts.  The first step was to grow our bioethanol and other biofuel industries, lead author Ian O’Hara said.

Read Cole Latimer’s story from The Age - “Biofuel the forgotten renewable energy, report says.”

Innovative pilot biofuel facility gets green light

The Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) today announced $5.2 million funding for Renergi to design and construct an innovative pilot scale biofuel production facility Perth.

Read more about the plan in the story: “Next steps for innovative biofuel technology”.

How fast, how green? How much money have you got?

In the 1950s the hot rod magazines of the day argued that “how fast you wanted to go, depended on how much money you had”.

In 2013 it is about how green you want to be and that also depends on how much money you have.

Schwarzenegger,
dog and
Hummer.

A year or so ago a newspaper story told of a fellow who had built a remarkably “green” house in Victoria’s Strathbogie Ranges – obviously a beautiful house with every attribute that, beyond its construction, reduced it carbon impact to almost zero.

The beautiful “green” house was, however, fearfully expensive and so not something most people could even considering. All could admire the house, dream about it, but only a few, an absolute minority, could afford it.

Former California Governor, actor and body builder, Arnold Schwarzenegger, epitomizes that approach in a recent story in the Melbourne Age headed: “Arnie calls for more 'sexy' environmentalism”.

In that story Arnie said: “I still drive my Hummers but now they are all on hydrogen and biofuel technology.”

First, most of us couldn’t afford a Hummer second, hydrogen power is as yet totally unproven, impractical and so expensive your name would have to “Schwarzenegger” to afford it and third, the value of biofuels is all smoke and mirrors making a few fabulously rich and leaving millions hungry and it contributes noting to mitigating climate change.