Australia forms renewable fuels industry alliance

The Australian Government has announced a major step towards establishing a domestic renewable fuels industry.

Ampol, GrainCorp and IFM Investors have signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to explore the possibility of creating an integrated renewable fuels sector in Australia.

The initial aim of the agreement will be to assess the feasibility of building a renewable fuels plant at Ampol’s Lytton refinery in Brisbane.

This facility will use local feedstocks such as rapeseed oil to produce sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) and renewable diesel (RD). This initiative aims to reduce emissions and provide cleaner, safer fuel options for the transportation sector.

The announcement follows the recent budget commitments by the Albanian Government, which include an investment of $1.7 billion over the next decade in the Future Made in Australia Innovation Fund.

This fund supports net zero emissions innovations, including low-carbon liquid fuels.

In addition, the government has allocated $18.5 million to develop a certification program for these fuels and $1.5 million to analyze the impact of demand-side measures.

The collaboration between Ampol, GrainCorp and IFM Investors is seen as a key step in the development of the renewable fuels industry, leveraging Australia’s competitive advantages in terms of infrastructure, technical expertise and raw material availability.

This industry is expected to create new jobs, stimulate regional development and increase energy security.

Representatives of the companies involved expressed their commitment to this initiative.

Danny Elia, Global Head of Asset Management at IFM Investors, said the company has a keen interest in facilitating cleaner flying and is proud to support this important step in the development of the SAF industry in Australia.

“IFM’s long-term investment approach is key to this emerging industry – we bring the scale, skills and reliability needed to support our iconic Australian partners, GrainCorp and Ampol, to launch a new industry that will create new jobs and economic opportunity,” Elia said.

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