Australia weighs canola and crop residues as feedstock for sustainable aviation fuel
Australia is assessing whether domestic SAF production based on canola, sorghum, sugar cane and agricultural residues can reduce its dependence on imported jet fuel. The feedstock base looks large, but the refining build-out required would be substantial.
Rising jet fuel costs are pushing sustainable aviation fuel back into the centre of Australia’s energy and farm policy debate. ABC reported that Qantas and Virgin have already cut some domestic flights, while jet fuel prices have risen by 150 per cent since the war in the Middle East began. That has sharpened interest in SAF made from agricultural feedstocks as a longer-term response to supply pressure.
Australia burns about 10 billion litres of jet fuel each year and imports all of it. SAF is already used in very small blends, but it is not produced domestically. The feedstock list now under discussion includes oilseeds such as canola, sugar cane, sorghum, agricultural residues and forestry waste. Infrastructure Minister Catherine King said the current model, in which Australia grows canola, ships it overseas for refining and then buys the finished fuel back, makes little strategic sense.
The country has six refineries producing biodiesel and ethanol, but none dedicated to SAF. To change that, Canberra launched a A$1.1 billion Cleaner Fuels Program last year to encourage private investment in biofuel facilities. It has also backed at least three SAF facilities through ARENA and this month announced a fast-track approvals process for electric truck and biofuel projects, including two SAF developments.
CSIRO Sustainable Aviation Fuel Roadmap lead Max Temminghoff said Australia has enough feedstock to cover about 60 per cent of current aviation fuel demand, or roughly 5 billion litres a year. If technologies now being tested become commercially viable, potential supply could cover up to 90 per cent of projected demand by 2050, even though total aviation fuel use is expected to rise to around 14 billion litres. Queensland is seen as strong in sugar cane and sorghum, Western Australia and New South Wales in canola, and regional Victoria in forestry residues.
Different feedstocks require different refining routes. Canola and used cooking oil fit the HEFA pathway, while sorghum, sugar and agricultural residues can be processed through alcohol-to-jet systems. ABC listed the most advanced projects as Jet Zero in Townsville at 100 million litres, HAMR in Mount Gambier at 140 million litres, Ampol in Brisbane at 750 million litres, and a Jet Zero project in Gladstone with 402 million litres of combined SAF and renewable diesel capacity. The Townsville and Brisbane projects are planned to be operating by 2029.
Even so, feedstock potential does not mean quick self-sufficiency. Airbus representative Stephen Forshaw estimated that Australia would need about 60 Jet Zero-sized facilities by 2030 to process the expected feedstock base, while the combined capacity of the four most advanced projects is only 1.4 billion litres. In other words, the country would need a major wave of new refining investment before its agricultural raw materials could become a meaningful domestic jet fuel source.