Australia's massive untapped fuel supply | The Business | ABC NEWS

Creating fuel from renewable sources like sugarcane residue, canola and waste materials isn't new, but it's rarely used in Australia. As the nation counts down the numbers of 'days' of fuel in storage, experts say embracing biofuels would expand how long our reserves can last. Ethanol can be blended with petrol to extend the amount we have available. Biodiesel can be used to run heavy transport, like trucks and machinery.
Australia exports feedstocks - unprocessed raw materials used as ingredients - to other countries. Those countries then refine those into fuel and we pay them to send it back. While there are local biofuel producers, the industry suffers from a lack of demand. Australia had also enjoyed 'cheap' imported fuel for a long time and not pushed the development of a local industry. With the war, people are focused on the cost of fuels.

In September, Treasurer Jim Chalmers and Energy Minister Chris Bowen stood at Ampol's Lytton Refinery in Brisbane's suburbs to announce $1.1 billion in grants to promote the expansion of biofuel production. Ampol chief executive Matthew Halliday said he looked forward to "continuing to work with the government around the demand side measures" to create policy to force more use. Lytton is one of just two remaining refineries in Australia, the other being Viva Energy's Corio refinery, on the outskirts of Geelong in Victoria.

HAMR Energy recently received taxpayer funds to support projects in Victoria and South Australia that will turn renewable organic material into fuel.
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