Tasmanian canola unlikely to be used in biofuel

A new report has highlighted the key role Australia’s canola could play as a biofuel, but it is unlikely that crops grown in Tasmania will be part of that.

The Rabobank report Fuelling the future: How the new biofuel demand wave could reshape Australia’s canola sector says that biofuels are increasingly being turned to globally to help reduce emissions.

GM canola is what is used in biofuels, with the majority of the canola that is exported out of the country coming from Western Australia.

Exported canola, which goes to Europe and the Middle East, is used in both food production and the manufacture of biofuels.

But Tasmania only grows non-GM canola, which is used in food manufacturing.

Riordan Grain Services has operations in Tasmania and its Chief Commercial Officer, Mark Lewis, said as far as he was aware, no canola grown in the state was used in biofuels.

“There might be some guy who is running his own little biofuel mill somewhere in Tasmania that I’m not aware of,” Mr Lewis said.

“But my understanding is that the main user of non-GM canola in Tasmania is not using that product for the manufacture of biofuel.

“It’s getting made into an oil for things like the seafood industry and general consumption.

“It’s unlikely that a biofuel industry would be established in Tasmania.”

The Rabobank report says that Australia currently exports around six million tonnes of canola seed each year.

Report lead author Vitor Pistoia said that equates to two billion tonnes of reneable diesel fuel.

“At the moment, we export the raw material and import the finished fuel,” Mr Pistoria said.

“That means a large share of the processing margin, jobs and strategic control sits offshore.

“As biofuel demand rises, that imbalance becomes harder to ignore.”

The report said there are two broad pathways for Australia’s canola industry – expanding domestic crushing and either refining domestically or increasing exports of canola oil to overseas biofuel refineries. 

“Local processing could allow Australia to capture more value across the supply chain, while improving utilisation of co-products such as canola meal,” it said.