Australia and India to produce cheaper fuels from waste

Queensland University of Technology (QUT) was privileged to play host to Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, prior to his participation in the G20 Leaders’ Summit last month.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi visits QUT. Image credit: QUT.

Modi was treated to a presentation from QUT’s Centre for Tropical Crops and Biocommodities (CTCB) and Mumbai’s Institute of Chemical Technology (ICT), who are leading a multimillion-dollar research project to reduce the costs of producing bio oils and chemicals from agricultural waste, minimise investment risks and encourage diversification in farming. The project is funded by the Australian and Indian governments as part of the Australia-India Strategic Research Fund 2013-2016, partners of which include:

• Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane
• University of Western Australia, Perth
• Curtin University, Perth
• NSW Department of Primary Industries
• Institute of Chemical Technology, Mumbai
• CSIR - National Institute of Interdisciplinary Sciences and Technology, Thiruvananthapuram
• International Centre for Genetic Engineering & Biotechnology (ICGEB), New Delhi
• The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI), New Delhi
• R&D Centre, Indian Oil Corporation, Faridabad

Image credit: QUT.

QUT’s Professor William Doherty said as well as making the production of renewable fuels more economically viable, the research aims to extract chemicals to replace conventional oil-derived compounds used in paints, adhesives, fire retardants and plastics for a range of applications including vehicle body parts and building materials. He said the project team is “currently developing tools that enable us to reduce the cost of delivering biomass”, with up to 30% of production costs lying in the collection, transport and storage of the agricultural waste prior to processing.

“The agricultural waste we are using, which cannot be used as food or fodder, is being sourced from three main crops that are common in Australia and India - sugar cane bagasse, forest residues left over from logging and rice straw,” Professor Doherty said.

“Our primary aim is to establish biomass as an economically and environmentally sustainable alternative energy source and reduce the risk barriers for companies investing in advanced manufacturing in Australia and India.

“This will significantly increase the viability of farming and rural communities by encouraging diversification associated with the production of major crops common to both the Australian and Indian agricultural sectors.”

Image credit: QUT.

Professor Doherty said the team has developed a “hybrid biorefinery concept [which] brings together both thermochemical and biochemical conversion processes and technologies developed by participating parties to maximise carbon conversion efficiency and end product value”. He added that the team is now set to take the process from the laboratory to the pilot stage at the biocommodity plants in Queensland, Western Australia and India.

“Many of the processes we are using have been developed by the research partners and shown to work at the laboratory scale,” he said. “This project is focused on significantly enhancing the prospects for commercial implementation by the further development and demonstration of these processes at pilot-plant scale.”

QUT facility for biofuel and chemical extraction. Image credit: QUT.