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Queensland hopeful of ethanol mandate boosting economy

In Australia, the state of Queensland’s regional economies are set to benefit from the Palaszczuk Government’s biofuels mandate, the state cabinet said.

The government is continuing to garner the attention of Queensland motorists with its E10 OK campaign.

Speaking from Airlie Beach for the Palaszczuk Government's Whitsundays Community Cabinet, Minister for Energy and Biofuels Mark Bailey said the campaign, which educates motorists on the benefits of using biofuels, will help lay foundations for a new biofuels industry.

“We only have to look at the vast amount of cane fields across regional Queensland to realise the state is sitting on an abundance of sugarcane, an important feedstock for advanced biofuels,” Bailey said.

“The biofuels campaign focuses on the benefits of Queenslanders transitioning to this cleaner-burning fuel. It encourages motorists to take a fresh look at E10’s high quality, more modern car technology and highlights that E10 use helps to advance Queensland’s economy,” he added.

Since the launch of the campaign in September, more than 180,000 vehicle searches have been made on the campaign website to check vehicle compatibility with E10 fuel.

The Queensland government set up an easy tool for motorists to check whether their vehicles are E10 compatible by simply entering their car registration number on the website.

The top three towns and cities for E10 compatibility checks include Brisbane with 141,778 searches, Gold Coast with 11,952, and Sunshine Coast with 4,024.

MP Julieanne Gilbert is also encouraging Queensland motorists to make E10 their preferred vehicle fuel.

“By doing so you will use a cleaner burning fuel, and you will support a new wave of industry, bringing jobs for regional Queensland,” Gilbert said.

From January 2017, liable fuel sellers from across Queensland will be required to sell a minimum amount of ethanol-blended petrol and bio-based diesel, which will give motorists more access to cleaner sources of fuel, while maintaining choice at the pump.

Bailey said Queensland’s biofuels industry is high tech and will encourage innovation, diversify the state economy, protect agriculture, and support knowledge-based jobs for the future in a sustainable way.

Queensland has two operating ethanol plants, the Dalby Bio-Ethanol refinery and the Sarina Distillery with a combined annual production capacity of approximately 140 million litres of ethanol, and one biodiesel refinery at Narangba that produces up to 30 million litres per year.





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