Biofuels provide a painless route to cut transport emissions

Of all the energy used in the transportation industry, 98% is still derived from fossil fuels. Immediate reductions of emissions can be achieved through the use of alternative fuel sources such as ethanol and biodiesel blends, without impacting on any food products. The CEO of Biofuels Association of Australia Heather Brodie shrugged of recent claims that ethanol prices will skyrocket when regular unleaded is phased out due to the impending Queensland mandate.

Two announcements from the Biofuels Association of Australia (BAA) in the past week suddenly raised the profile of this normally quiet industry body. So Ken Hickson went along to meet BAA CEO Heather Brodie:

Heather Brodie was appointed Chief Executive Officer of the Biofuels Association in October, 2009.  She has worked for more than fifteen years in commercial, business development and marketing roles in mines and energy, transport and logistics.

Most recently she was the GM Business Development & Corporate Affairs for ZeroGen, focusing on the world’s first CCS project at commercial scale, and was active in the establishment of the GCCSI in 2008.  Prior to this Heather was the National Marketing & Communications Manager for the VCVA looking after both Mack Trucks and Volvo Trucks during the world-wide changing of diesel emissions legislation and regulations.

Heather has worked in gold, copper and coal mining in Australia, Asia, Africa and the Americas and has worked extensively with numerous government departments, industry associations, scientific bodies, OEMs and international organisations.

Armed with numerous tertiary qualifications, Heather points to her LLB (Hons), majoring in environmental law and sustainable development, as her most significant prize.

Here’s sizeable chunk from her speech to the 2009 BAA’s annual conference:

Biofuels have a terrific potential to efficiently and effectively replace a large percentage of the world’s fuel needs.  We can’t afford to be complacent though.   We need to galvanise investment into the industry and that is going to require a few things.   We must have a clear and well grounded regulatory and legislative environment to allow investment to take place for the long term. 

We must have certainty. We must bring about clear pricing signals and appropriate fiscal initiatives to encourage low carbon solutions.  The choice that companies and consumers make will depend on the convenience and the cost, including the capital costs and operating costs of using biofuels.  For individual consumers this might not be prohibitive, but the cost to the mining, interstate transport and airline sectors may significantly delay their uptake.

The challenge for Australia and for the biofuels industry is to manage the transition between the current environment and higher oil prices under any worldwide advances in emissions trading while at the same time retaining the skills and investment confidence in this sector.  The current support for first generation biofuels is an intermediate step, but an absolutely imperative step, to the establishment of a low carbon economy. 

As oil prices rise, as Australia’s energy security gets worse, as demand exceeds supply, the first generation products will require less support and will be replaced by newer, more advanced technologies and feedstocks. 

But in the meantime, it is absolutely imperative that the first generation market be strongly established in order to build confidence in the industry and to institute a market base from which next generation biofuels can learn and develop. 

And so that greenhouse gas emissions are reduced immediately.

Release from BAA (15 January 2010):

The Biofuels Association of Australia shrugged of recent claims that ethanol prices will skyrocket when regular unleaded is phased out due to the impending Queensland mandate. 

“The issue of pricing of ethanol and the upcoming mandate in Queensland of 5% are simply not going to affect pricing in that way” said Heather Brodie, CEO of the BAA. “Fuels and excise are a Federal Government issue in the main, and are influenced by international pricing, world supply and demand capacities, transport costs, wharfage and the like.”

“The only time that ethanol prices might change will be when the Federal Government’s currently legislated grants scheme changes in July 2011″ said Ms Brodie. “Doing something good for the environment by using biofuels might start to cost more as the Federal excise rate effectively increases over the next five years.”

“At that point in time prices may rise due to the fact that ethanol will cost more for the producer to produce – simple as that. The proof has already been seen in NSW – no price rises have been seen there just by the implementation of their mandate and as an industry we certainly expect the same to occur in Queensland.”

“At the moment transportation is the third largest emitter of greenhouse gases and is responsible for more than a quarter of the world’s emissions” Ms Brodie said. “Ninety eight percent of the energy used in the transportation industry still derives from fossil fuels. Immediate reductions of emissions can be achieved through the use of alternative fuel sources such as ethanol and biodiesel blends, without impacting on any food products.”

“Australia has the opportunity to lead the world in the use of biofuels but at the moment we are well behind the mature positions being taken in Europe, America, Asia and Brazil.”

Release from BAA  (13 January 2010):   

The Biofuels Association of Australia today questioned a number of recent articles relating to the pricing of premium and unleaded ethanol blends in the lead up to increasing mandates in NSW and Queensland.

“It seems the general public is still being misled on a number of fronts” said Heather Brodie, CEO of the BAA. “Nearly all Australian-made cars are suitable for E10 fuels, and the vast majority of imported cars are also compatible with E5 or E10 ethanol blended fuels. Cars all over Europe, America, Brazil and Asia have been using blended fuels for decades, so it is a proven product that can go a long way to reducing our carbon emissions.”

Ethanol is an alcohol which is made by fermenting the sugar components of plant materials by using yeast. Ethanol can be used as a fuel for vehicles in its pure form, but it is usually blended with gasoline so as to reduce vehicle emissions of carbon dioxide and particulates.

“We have the states of NSW and Queensland taking a positive step for the environment by introducing mandated ethanol blends at the bowser” Ms Brodie said. “With the price differential between premium unleaded and an ethanol blend we should see more people willing to give it a go. Most cars actually produce more power using an ethanol blend because there is a higher octane rating than petrol.”

“Remember how much we all hated unleaded petrol as compared to super when it first came in? We’re in the same boat now in getting used to a new product. Transportation is the third largest emitter of greenhouse gases and is responsible for more than a quarter of the world’s emissions” Ms Brodie said. “Ninety eight percent of the energy used in the transportation industry still derives from fossil fuels. Immediate reductions of emissions can be achieved through the use of alternative fuel sources such as ethanol and biodiesel blends.”

“It’s time we all started recognising that locally produced, environmentally sustainable and economically viable transport fuels will actually be necessary in order to meet petroleum demands in the future. Australia has the opportunity to lead the world in the use of biofuels but at the moment we are well behind the mature positions being taken in Europe, America, Asia and Brazil.”

Source: www.biofuelsassociation.com.au