Members and friends

The announced closure of the Marsden Point Refinery should have been a trigger for action on how to repurpose the assets in the national interest. Much of the refinery assets could be a platform for a future biorefinery and would reduce the cost of building a green-fields plant. However no strategic planning on which assets, and how they can be best retained, has been undertaken from a national interest point of view. Modifying a consented facility is also easier than finding a new site.
 
Keeping the refinery operational while an assessment is undertaken would maximise the potential public benefit.
 
The Government is proposing to have a Biofuels Mandate which will provide a transition pathway to having biofuels available to reduce the transport greenhouse gas emissions. But there is a lack of a plan for how biofuels could be produced domestically rather than imported. It is hoped that the Government includes in the Emissions Reduction Plan it is working on, policies and a plan on how the biofuels for transport are to be sourced. We have seen how leaving large infrastructure investments to the market does not work. Government has set up entities to investigate how to ensure electricity supply – NZ Battery project; has assisted get electric vehicles on the road; and supported development of the hydrogen option. Developing a plan for long term supply of biofuels for transport is also required and the Marsden Refinery should be included within that workstream.

Brian Cox
Executive Officer

Closure of refinery will increase barrier to low emissions transport
Bioenergy Association Media Statement, September 2021
The announcement that the Marsden refinery is to be closed will increase the barrier to easy achievement of low emissions transport, says the Bioenergy Association.
Brian Cox, Executive Officer of the Bioenergy Association said that “The Bioenergy Association is concerned that the refinery at Marsden Point is being decommissioned without serious consideration of how the remaining equipment not used for import of petroleum fuels, can be repurposed for production of biofuels. We understand that the facilities could easily be repurposed for the refining of biocrude to produce some renewable biofuels. We understand that at certain ratios some types of bio feedstock can be co-processed on existing hydrotreating units without equipment upgrade”.
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New tool to identify opportunities for decarbonisation of industrial heat
EECA has developed a new tool which can be used to identify where the opportunities for replacing fossil fuels used for stationary heat with low emission fuels (biomass and electricity) are located. The searchable database can be segmented by region, type of application and possible fuel type. So far it only includes data for Southland and Canterbury. The information will assist equipment suppliers see the opportunity for their business.
 
The tool will also assist solid biofuel suppliers to plan future regional supply requirements so that there is the right biomass, in the right place, at the right time, over the period out to 2050.  Initial analysis shows the quantities of fuel which will be required in each region.
[Editor -  From our knowledge of the sources of biomass which can come available it is clear that in these two regions that there will be adequate quantities of biomass provided biomass sources are planned for, starting now. ]
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Timeline confirmed for Emissions Reductions Plan - James Shaw
NZ Government has agreed to begin consulting on the Emissions Reduction Plan in early October and require that the final plan be released by the end of May next year in line with the 2022 Budget. This is a delay from the legislated dates due to COVID constraints.
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New Zealand Energy Scenarios
A new tool, the New Zealand Energy Scenarios TIMES-NZ 2.0 website allows for analysis through model scenarios of possible future energy use and the consequential greenhouse gas emissions in New Zealand. TIMES-NZ 2.0 was developed by EECA and the BusinessNZ Energy Council. There are two scenarios Kea (Cohesive) and Tūī (Individualistic).
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$350 million plant to deliver renewable energy-from-waste considered
Investigations have begun into the viability of building an Energy-from-Waste plant that will safely convert 350,000 tonnes of waste, that would otherwise be dumped into South Island landfills annually, into renewable electricity.
Under Project Kea, South Island Resource Recovery Limited (SIRRL)*, a joint venture bringing together New Zealand expertise with Spanish and Chinese waste technology, is looking at possible sites to build an Energy-from-Waste plant near Waimate in South Canterbury.
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Funding for decarbonisation of industrial heat
The third round of the NZ Government Investment in Decarbonising Industry (GIDI) Fund has been announced.  The Fund is designed to accelerate the decarbonisation of industrial process heat and contribute to the COVID-19 recovery by stimulating the domestic economy and supporting employment.  There is a cap of 50% co-funding for projects.  Applications for round three of the Fund are welcome until 18 October 2021.
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Ethanol Australia's octane enhancer
Implementation of the aromatics pool reduction in Australia's fuel standards
The report Ethanol as Australia's Octane Enhancer - Implementation of the Aromatics Pool Reduction in Australia's Fuel Standards (August 2021), has been released online and presented as part of the US Grains Council and Bioenergy Australia co-hosted webinar: “Ethanol: Decarbonization of Transport Fuel in the Bioeconomy”.   If you missed the live event, you can view recording here.

This report, commissioned by Bioenergy Australia explores the potential for ethanol in Australia.  Australia is well-positioned to achieve legislated aromatic reductions using ethanol which will have broad environmental benefits, generate new jobs and regional investment, reduce greenhouse gases, and improve fuel security.
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Shipping industry proposes carbon levy
Leading shipping associations have proposed creating a global levy on carbon emissions from ships to help speed up the industry's efforts to go greener. With about 90 per cent of world trade transported by sea, global shipping accounts for nearly 3 per cent of the world's CO2 emissions and the sector is under growing pressure to get cleaner. For the first time, the International Chamber of Shipping (ICS) and Intercargo jointly proposed a levy based on mandatory contributions for each tonne of CO2 emitted from ships exceeding 5000 gross tonnes and trading globally.
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Licella commissions world's largest operating hydrothermal liquefaction facility
Licella has completed initial commissioning of its upgraded Cat-HTR commercial-demonstration plant located in NSW. The Commercial Stage 1 facility is co-owned with Canadian Forest Products Ltd. (Canfor). It is built around the core of Licella’s large pilot plant on the NSW Central Coast, utilizing its commercial-scale Cat-HTR reactors. Cat-HTR stands for Catalytic Hydrothermal Reactor. The company’s hydrothermal liquefaction (HTL) technology is now the world’s largest of its type. CS-1 Cat-HTR is a decarbonization platform that produces high value, low-carbon products, such as renewable transportation fuels and biochemicals.
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Imperial Oil to produce renewable diesel at Edmonton refinery

Faster and cheaper ethanol-to-jet-fuel on the horizon

Repsol produces Spain's first SAF derived from waste

A.P. Moller - Maersk to invest US$7 billion in methanol powered ocean-going vessels

Brightmark and Chevron expand dairy RNG partnership

New requirements for safe handling and storage of solid fuels approved for Canada

• at a pellet production plant from the outlet of the cooler unit until loaded for transportation;
• at a commercial distributor from the receiving station until loaded for transportation; and
• at an industrial end-user from the receiving station until fed into the fuel preparation

Maersk invests in California-based green methanol startup

Princeton researchers develop platform easing chemical production from cellulose

The role of renewable transport fuels in decarbonising road transport

EU approves extension of tax exemption for biofuels in Sweden