The initiatives are:
• Investment to allow production at BP’s Bulwer Refinery in Queensland of 110 million litres of biodiesel per annum through a new technology, with the fuel being made available to the market from 2007. The biomass feedstock has been secured through a contract for the supply of tallow from Colyer Fehr Tallow.
• An MOU with Primary Energy to purchase the entire output from a new ethanol plant to be constructed by Primary Energy in Kwinana, Western Australia. This would see the production of 80 million litres of ethanol per annum to be sold across Australia as e10 from 2008.
• A contract for purchase of 23 million litres of ethanol from CSR over two years. The ethanol will be purchased from CSR’s Sarina distillery near Mackay and blended to produce e10 that will be sold into the Queensland market later this year.
BP president Gerry Hueston said this announcement was the culmination of many years of work by the company.
“This move signals a unique change to the composition of Australia’s fuel supply and is evidence that much progress is being made towards the Federal Government’s biofuels target,” he said.
“BP will invest in refining and distribution infrastructure and secure product to enable biofuels to play a role in the future of Australian petroleum supplies.”
While Hueston said BP believed biofuels would play an important role in strengthening Australia’s energy security, the government also needed to establish adequate policies.
“The Government’s Energy White Paper and introduction of legislation for petroleum market reform are steps that will result in far greater confidence in investing in the future marketing and distribution of these products,” he said.
To date, BP claims to have sold more than 20 million litres of e10 in Australia without recording a single vehicle complain
