Australian alternative fuel plants to deliver cleaner energy solutions Resource Co is on track to significantly increase its annual 250,000 tonne production of alternative fuels in Australia.
T
wo new resource recovery and alternative fuel
their energy intake doing well in comparison to others that have
plants will come online to recover a range of
been locked into purely fossil fuel.”
commodities and transform select non-recyclable
The Wetherill plant, when up and running, will process around
waste streams into solid fuel — processed en-
150,000 tonnes of waste a year to produce PEF and recover other
gineered fuel (PEF).
commodities such as metal, clean timber and inert materials.
The first plant is under construction at Weth-
CEFC Bioenergy and Energy from Waste Sector lead Henry An-
erill Park in Sydney and will open this year, with the location of
ning said PEF demonstrated the incredible potential to transform
a second plant in another Australian state soon to be revealed.
waste that would otherwise go to landfill into a baseload energy
Ben Sawley, chief executive officer, sustainable energy at ResourceCo said the company has secured $30 million to help build the new state-of-the-art PEF manufacturing plants from the Clean Energy Finance Corporation (CEFC). “The plants will help facilitate the fuel diversification of cement kilns, reducing their reliance on coal and other fossil fuels,” Sawley said. “The cement industry is starting to recognise the importance of having diversification in energy and the need to increase their use of alternative fuels.
source as part of Australia’s future clean energy mix, while also lowering emissions. “Through this investment with ResourceCo, we are demonstrating the ability to use the latest energy-from-waste technology to deliver cleaner energy solutions to the Australian economy,” Anning said. Waste levies which are enforced in NSW, South Australia, Victoria, the ACT and Western Australia highlight further reason the take-up in PEF is a good business decision as opposed to directing waste to landfill. The Wetherill plant’s environmental credentials are further
“With coal and gas prices significantly increasing, we are seeing
supported by the successful $5 million in grant funding secured
kilns that have already introduced an alternative fuel mix among
from the NSW Environmental Trust under the Waste Less Recycle
18 Sustainability Matters - Aug/Sep 2017
www.SustainabilityMatters.net.au