Australia's first grain-to-ethanol plant is up and running, generating huge interest among grain farmers on Queensland’s western Darling Downs.
And there’s no visible pollution from the Dalby Bio-Refinery Ltd’s (DBRL) production processes centred on a maze of pipework that holds the key to transforming truck-loads of sorghum into green fuel, as well as several useful by-products.
Caltex has reportedly agreed to buy at least 30 million litres of ethanol annually from the new bio-refinery.
It’s been a long haul for all involved – a journey that began more than five years ago when the concept of locating a $140m ethanol plant among some of Queensland’s prime sorghum-growing country was proposed.
Initially, the world in general and the US in particular championed a renewable fuels revolution in which many thousands of hectares of farmland were earmarked for producing ethanol, principally from corn.
Full story in The Land, January 22.
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