Richard Bennett; Amir Abadi; Kevin Goss

Transformational adaptation for the wheatbelt: energy tree cropping

Australian mallee system

Mallee system 1 - production

Belts of coppicing, drought tolerant trees• Integration with dominant

grain, meat and wool enterprises

• Coppicing trees allow regular and repeated harvests (3-5yrs)

Contractors harvest and transport wood biomass

• harvesting & chipping at >60 T/h

• economic transport distance ~50 km

Photo of harvester prototype in action

Mallee system 2 – harvest/transp.

Biomass processing centres• renewable energy• fuel• char • oil

Mallee system 3 - processing

Energy source that is:• C neutral to C positive • Base-load – complements wind and solar

The path to an industry

A viable industry before 2025

Generating 176MW

Offsetting 9.1 Mt CO2-e

The path to an industry

The path to an industry-- cost of supply --

The path to an industry-- cost of supply --

The path to an industry-- cost of supply --

The path to an industry-- cost of supply --

The path to an industry-- cost of supply --

The path to an industry-- cost of supply --

The path to an industry-- cost of supply --

The path to an industry-- scale of demand --

The path to an industry-- scale of demand --

The path to an industry-- scale of demand --

Challenges to industry development

Cost of harvest and haulage largest hurdle–Prototype harvesters under development

– Initial cost biomass cost offsets?

Ongoing sustainability considerations

– early reliance on stored soil moisture / nutrients

– productivity decline long-term

– Net C balance of roots

Transforming agriculture Environmental benefits to farms and regions

• Provide salinity and biodiversity benefits• Smart belt placement can improve water

and nutrient balances• Neutral or positive carbon balance

• Viable industry will displace fossil fuels emissions to 1.3 MT CO2-e / year

Transforming agriculture Economic benefits to farmers

• Improved animal welfare – shelter from elements

• Diversify farm incomes – complement existing

agriculture

• Maintains cash flow – regular harvests

• Stability of yield – lower year on year risk

• Higher total productivity – use of excess resources

Transforming agriculture Economic benefits to regions

• New regional industries – harvesting, transporting

and processing

• Provide local base-load power to regional areas

reducing transmission losses

• Improved energy security

• Mallees for bioenergy will be strategically important

for Australia's renewable energy future

Key references

• Future Farm Industries CRC (2010) Energy Tree Crops: Renewable energy from biomass could be the driver to large scale adoption of woody crops and to structural improvement to dryland agricultural systems in Australia

• Bartle, J. Abadi, A. (2010) Toward Sustainable Production of Second Generation Bioenergy Feedstocks. Energy Fuels 24, 2–9.