Renewable energy from waste vegetation to become more efficient

Extracting fuel from waste vegetation, like hay, is about to become cheaper thanks to a new project in Western Australia. The green fuel is a cleaner alternative to fossil fuels.

A new project in WA will reduce the cost of converting agricultural waste, like unused hay, to renewable energy.

Producing renewable energy from waste vegetation could become cheaper thanks to a pilot biomass project in Western Australia.

Biomass can be converted to green transport fuels, a cleaner alternative to fossil fuels.

However, processing the biomass can be costly, Australian Renewable Energy Agency ceo Ivor Frischknecht said.

“Existing processes require agricultural waste crops to first be ground into smaller pieces, costing considerable time and energy,” Mr Frischknecht said.

ARENA has given start-up company Renergi $5.2 million to build their project, worth $12.9 million in total.

Renergi’s solution to avoid intensive processing is to place steel grinding balls in what ARENA said was “a rotating conversion unit” to help break down the biomass, making the process more efficient.

“Successful development of an effective bioenergy technology could have significant export potential as well as being good for Australia’s biofuels industry,” Mr Frischknecht said.

SBS has contacted Renergi director professor Chun-Zhu Li for comment, but the professor was unavailable.

Renergi is a company that Curtin University established to commercialise the university’s developed technologies.

The project is scheduled for completion in October 2017.

More details about the new biomass project here.