Darling Downs’s ethanol plant begins production

Australia’s first sorghum-to-ethanol plant has begun production at Queensland’s Darling Downs. Dalby Bio-Refinery Ltd. says the A$85 million (US$57.53 million) plant will reach full production in January, making 70 million liters of ethanol a year. Refinery board director Chris Harrison, who believes the government should mandate the use of ethanol blends in gasoline, says the company has already purchased about 200,000 tons of sorghum required to run the plant for 2009. “I think the global experience has shown that without some sort of mandate or measurable or enforceable target, biofuels do tend to not reach their full potential,” he says. (December 12, 2008)