Initially the oil will be used in the pharmaceutical market, currently dominated by imports. It will also be used to pioneer its use as a safe, environmentally friendly industrial solvent. Enecon Pty Ltd, which holds the rights to commercialise the CSIRO technology, will be working with Western Power on the design, construction and operation of the plant. Mallee biomass and new eucalyptus oil distillation technology will be supplied by the Oil Mallee Company of Australia Pty Ltd.
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After the demonstration plant? Full scale, fully economic plants will be five times the size of the demonstration plant, requiring the planting of 20 million trees each. There is potential for at least ten IWP plants throughout Western Australia, with many more possible in other States and overseas. How does this affect greenhouse gasses? The electricity produced will displace fossil - fueled generation plant and is carbon dioxide neutral. Because trees are planted specifically for the project, carbon dioxide is first fixed from the atmosphere as carbon, before being later released in generation of electricity as carbon dioxide again. The carbon dioxide is essentially borrowed, not generated. Much of the fixed carbon stays with the activated carbon. Additionally, there is a carbon store created when the land-use is changed initially from monoculture to agroforestry, and a continuing store in the roots, which continue to grow indefinitely. |
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Funding?
This exciting project has received funding support though Renewable Energy Commercialisation Program of the Australian Greenhouse Office and through the Technology Diffusion Program of Ausindustry, Department of Industry Science and Resources.
The following organisations have contributed to the development of the IWP Demonstration project.
Western Power, Enecon Pty Ltd, the Australian Greenhouse Office, the Department of Industry Science and Resources, CSIRO, the Department of conservation and Lad Management (CALM), the Oil Mallee Co, the Oil Mallee Association, Murdoch University, Curtin University, the Rural Industries Research and Development Corporation.
| Technical Details | |||
| Biomass Feed | Plant Design | ||
| 20,000 tonnes / annum | Generation Plant - | 1MW Steam Turbine | |
| Carbonising Plant - | Fluidised Bed | ||
| Distillation Plant - | Steam Distillation | ||
| Output | Spent Leaf Combustor - | Thermal Gasification | |
| Electricity - | 7.5 GWh / annum | ||
| Activated Carbon - | 690 tonnes / annum | ||
| Eucalyptus Oil - | 210 tonnes / annum | ||
| Greenhouse Gas Abatement | |||
| Renewable Energy Generation - | 7,300 tonnes / annum | ||
| Rootmass Fixation - | 4,300 tonnes / annum | ||
| Standing Biomass Fixation - | 54,000 tonnes |