With soaring diesel prices, the region’s canola and cereal straw could offer an opportunity for local biodiesel, sustainable aviation fuel and e-methanol production
WSM Development CEO Chris Sounness said while our region produced about 40 per cent of Victoria’s grain, it had no control over its fuel supplies.
“That is a structural problem. But this region has the feedstocks, the research capability and the growing investor interest to be part of the solution.”
His comments follow the recent Food for Thought forum run by the WSM Food Security Resilience Lab.
Farmers, emergency managers, welfare workers, local business people and government representatives gathered at the event to assess risks, threats and vulnerabilities in the WSM food system.
Mr Sounness said the region already large volumes of canola and cereal straw — established feedstocks for low-carbon liquid fuels.
“We’ve also got Federation University with applied research capability across multiple campuses and expanding renewable energy infrastructure – a core input for fuel production.
He said markets could one day influence sustainable fuel development, with European and North Asian customers increasingly scrutinising carbon emissions for cereals and canola.
“Our broadacre cropping and grain freight currently depend on heavy diesel-powered machinery where electrification is not a near-term option.
“Biofuels offer the most credible pathway to lower emissions for these operations. Regions that can produce those fuels domestically will have an advantage in those export markets,”.
Mr Sounness said now was a great time to start talking about the possibilities.
“We need government to treat liquid fuel security as a food security issue, which includes putting agriculture on the nation’s emergency fuel list.
“We’d like industry to look seriously at this region as a location, and for researchers to be supported to connect regional agricultural outputs to next-generation fuel pathways.”
Mr Sounness said the Food for Thought forum explored other food security risks and threats including fertilisers and chemical supplies, GPS and other connectivity, housing and workforce deficits, household insecurity and misinformation about farming practices.
“Fuel, housing, food access, workforce are not separate problems –they connect. Getting people in a room who don’t usually talk to each other was the point,” Mr Sounness said.
Over the coming months, the Lab’s Project Control Group will work through the forum findings to identify three or four priority actions for the region.
The WSM Food Security Resilience Lab is led by WSM Development and funded by the Foundation for Rural and Regional Renewal.
To read a quick background to Australian fuel policy and its impact on the region click Https:/fuelsupplychainhistorywsm.netlify.app/