Australian Researchers to Pilot Localized Small Scale Biofuel Plants

In Australia, researchers at the Southern Cross University's Forestry Department are planning to pilot small scale plants that would harness local biomass resource and convert them into biofuel.

The Northern Rivers area produces plenty of cellulose biomass but production tends to be localized in small isolated pockets. Collecting the biomass and transporting them to a central facility would impact the economic viability of biomass processing. The planned pilot project will develop localized small scale versions of the Fischer-Tropsch process used in Germany during the World War II to turn coal into liquid fuel. The university research team has developed a gasifier that turns wood chips into gas, which can be further synthesized, using the Fischer-Tropsch process, to recombine hydrogen and carbon monoxide into liquid hydrocarbons. The resulting bio-crude can be refined to create diesel fuel.