New Bioenergy Australia State of the Nation report shows A$5 billion opportunity

In Australia, Bioenergy Australia has released the Bioenergy State of the Nation Report (produced in collaboration with KPMG). The first state-of-the-nation assessment of the sector identifies Australia’s significant bioenergy opportunity and provides a criteria for kick-starting Australia’s bioenergy economy. The opportunity for Australia is significant and multi-faceted, offering a A$3.5 billion-A$5 billion investment opportunity, mostly in regional economies, which the Australian government is being urged to address.

Shadow Minister for Climate and Energy, the Hon Mark Butler MP gave a speech at the report launch noting that lack of vision, policy and commitment has stifled the sector. Butler said, “There are huge opportunities for Australia to embrace bioenergy. I welcome this important report from KPMG and look forward to working with Bioenergy Australia in this exciting transition.”

The majority of the 179 commissioned bioenergy projects are in Queensland, New South Wales and Victoria (77%) and the main technologies comprise combustion1 (56%) and anaerobic digestion (29%). All states are lacking diversification across feedstock and technology, and most projects produce electricity as an output, which a national vision could transform.