Australian biofuel capacity on the rise despite drought

Australia’s capacity to produce ethanol and biodiesel is growing strongly, despite a drought and other challenges, and is expected to double this year to more than 600 million liters, according to a report released by APAC Biofuel Consultants. Demand for ethanol-blended gasoline is growing and fuel ethanol production in Australia is currently running close to full capacity of around 120 million liters per year, said Mike Cochran, one of the report’s authors. New plants and expansions at existing operations could boost ethanol production capacity to more than 300 million liters per year by the first half of 2009. “High feedstock costs and commissioning difficulties are contributing factors which have meant that biodiesel production has been well below capacity over the past six months,” Cochran said. (September 5, 2007)