The Australian Labor government's bioenergy feedstock strategy will exclude feedstocks not directly produced from primary industries, according to a discussion paper released today.
The strategy aims to support the growth of feedstock supply chains through policy and will complement Australia's A$1.1bn ($728mn) Cleaner Fuels Program, according to the country's agriculture minister Julie Collins.
Feedstocks excluded from the strategy include used cooking oil (UCO), municipal waste and non-biogenic feedstocks, such as green hydrogen used for power-to-liquid fuels. It will instead focus on feedstocks from Australia's agriculture and forestry sectors, including canola, tallow, biomass, sugar cane and sorghum.
Australia's nascent hydrogen sector, including power-to-liquid projects, are eligible for subsidies under Canberra's Hydrogen Headstart program. A total of A$2bn was earmarked for the first round.
The government intends to invest in the most viable bioenergy pathways such as the hydroprocessed esters and fatty acids (HEFA) pathway, instead of emerging pathways such as Fischer-Tropsch (FT), alcohol-to-jet (ATJ) and power-to-liquid methods.
The strategy is one part of a broader collection of Australia's government policies aiming to support the domestic production of biofuels to achieve net-zero by 2050, and reduce emissions by 62-70pc below 2005 levels by 2035, the discussion paper said.
Companies have until 7 November to respond to the strategy and submissions will be released on 21 November. The government has yet to release a discussion paper on its Cleaner Fuels Program.
