Earlier this month Qantas announced it’s looking towards sustainable fuel alternatives to power its fleet of aircraft, with a deal to buy 10 million litres of biofuel from BP in the wings.

More airlines switching to sustainable aviation fuels is good news for Carnarvon’s renewable diesel joint venture with Frontier Impact Group. The JV’s technology which produces renewable diesel from waste woody biomass can be upgraded to produce sustainable aviation fuels.

While this isn’t the primary objective of our Australian first project, the fact another major airline has signaled it’s shift towards more sustainable and alternative aviation fuels sends a strong signal that demand for renewable and sustainable biofuels  is trending up.

Projections and forecast trends for uptake of bioenergy created through sustainable fuels was clearly outlined in Australian Renewable Energy Agency’s Bioenergy Roadmap, released in November.

Among the key forecasts were:

Economic benefits – $14 billion and 35,300 jobs

Emissions reductions – 12 per cent

Liquid fuel security – an extra 63 days in 2019 levels

Waste recovery – 7 per cent more waste diverted from landfill

Our investment in renewable diesel technology with JV partner Frontier Impact Group to assist the energy transition is real. Renewable diesel can utilise existing refueling infrastructure, help reduce emissions from the road transport sector short-term and be cost-competitive for end users.

The project clearly fits with the Federal Government carbon reduction ambitions and of course, forms part of Carnarvon’s own strategy and investment to meet net zero emissions by 2050.  In late November Carnarvon Energy wrote to Federal Energy and Emissions Reduction Minister Angus Taylor to share details of the project and invite him to be briefed further.

Negotiations for a site, front-end engineering and design, biomass feedstock and offtake of renewable diesel are now advanced and announcements regarding these and other aspects of the project will be made in 2022.