Biomass market
opportunities
Australia 1. General country information
2. Economic indicators
3. Biomass Availability
4. Energy profile
5. Energy & biomass policies
6. Funding opportunities
7. Business Climate
8. Important contacts
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Colophon
Date April 10, 2014
Status Final
This study was carried out in the framework of the Netherlands Programmes Sustainable Biomass by
Name organisation Partners for Innovation BV
Contact person Emiel Hanekamp
Although this report has been put together with the greatest possible care, NL Enterprise Agency does not accept
liability for possible errors.
Contact
Netherlands Programmes Sustainable Biomass
Jobert Winkel
NL Enterprise Agency
NL Energy and Climate Change
Croeselaan 15, 3521 BJ Utrecht
P.O. Box 8242, 3503 RE Utrecht
The Netherlands
Email: [email protected]
Phone: +31 - 88 - 602 7969
www.rvo.nl/biomass
Partners for Innovation BV
Emiel Hanekamp, Saskia de Lint and
Floor Osseweijer
Partners for Innovation BV
Cruquiusweg 20
1019 AT Amsterdam
The Netherlands
Email: [email protected]
Phone: +31 (20) 6200511
www.partnersforinnovation.com
This document
This document is part of a series of 16, providing information on biomass markets in:
Europe: Germany, France, United Kingdom, Spain and Finland
EU/Asia: Russia and Latvia
Asia: China, India and Thailand
North- and South-America United States of America, Canada and Brazil
Africa: South-Africa and Ghana
Australia Australia
The selection of countries is done in close cooperation with NL Enterprise Agency. The objectives of the
country documents are: To provide companies a first impression of doing businesses in a country; To provide sources and contacts for more detailed information; To sketch opportunities how companies can be further supported when doing business in a country.
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On a global schale, serious investments are needed to introduce resource and cost efficient technologies.
For Australia this need can be found in a strongly increasing horticulture sector, decreasing sources like
water and land and a rise in demand due to a growing population and increasing export market in Asia.
Stimulated by government incentives, the market for renewable energy solutions is increasing. There are
opportunities for Dutch companies and research organisations (including consultancies) for bioenergy
solutions using agricultural residues and waste to energy.
1. GENERAL COUNTRY INFORMATION
Country profiles at RVO: http://www.rvo.nl/onderwerpen/internationaal-ondernemen/landeninformatie/australie
Descriptions of business sectors, key market players and business trends via Business
Monitor International: http://www.rvo.nl/onderwerpen/internationaal-ondernemen/landenoverzicht/marktvergelijkingen/bmi
The Economist Intelligence Unit provides you with articles and short reports about Country
Analysis, Risk Analysis and Industry Analysis:http://www.rvo.nl/onderwerpen/internationaal-
ondernemen/landenoverzicht/marktvergelijkingen/eiu
Im- and export figures can be found at the International Trade Centre Databank: http://www.rvo.nl/onderwerpen/internationaal-ondernemen/landenoverzicht/marktvergelijkingen/trademap
Information U.S. Energy Information Administration: http://www.eia.gov/countries/cab.cfm?fips=as
Not rated in AON risk map. Indication for reliable and safe business climate
2. ECONOMIC INDICATORS
Australia 2009 2010 2011 2012
GDP (current billion US$) 926.71 1,141.79 1,386.89 1,532.41
GDP growth (annual %) 1.6 2.1 2.4 3.4
GDP per capita (current US$) 42,551.0 51,746.1 62,125.8 67,555.8
Population (Total, million) 21.78 22.07 22.32 22.68 Source: http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/NY.GDP.MKTP.CD, http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/NY.GDP.PCAP.CD
Source: IRENA Renewable Energy Country Profiles 2013: http://www.irena.org/remaps/countryprofiles/pacific/australia.pdf
3. BIOMASS AVAILABILITY
Land Use Parameters
Country Land area (km2)
Agricultural area (km2)
Arable land (km2)
Permanent crops (km2)
Forestry area (km2)
Australia 7,682,300.00 4,094,665.90 476,302.60 7,682.30 1,482,683.90
per 1000 capita 338.67 180.51 21.00 0.34 65.36
Source 2012: http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/AG.SRF.TOTL.K2
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Agricultural and Forest Production
Country Forest production (m3) 2012 Agricultural production (1000 kg) 2012
Australia 39,096,000 82,787,333
Biomass Resources
Next to wood waste, main energy crops are sugar cane, corn, wheat, sorghum, and vegetable
oil-bearing crops such as sunflowers, rapeseed (canola) and soybeans.
Distribution of bioenergy electricity and heat generation facilities. Source: Geoscience Australia, via Australian Energy Resource Assessment (DRET, Geoscience Australia and ABARE);
http://www.development.tas.gov.au/economic/advice_and_services/renewable_energy_in_tasmania/renewable_energy_resource_maps
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4. ENERGY PROFILE
National Energy Profile
Total Primary Energy Supply: 5,274.4 PJ – Of which renewables: 289.4 PJ (5.5%)
Energy self-sufficiency: 235.8%
Fuel imports: 25.9 billion USD (12.9% of total imports)
Electricity generation: 244.4 TWh – Of which renewables: 18.9 TWh (7.7%)
Electricity use per capita: 10,453 kWh
Electrical capacity: 56.9 GW – Of which renewables: 10.5 GW (18.4%)
Electricity access rate: 100.0%
Share of population using solid fuels: < 5%
Biomass Related Projects
600 million litres of biodiesel per year announced (4 projects)
470 million litres of bioethanol per year announced (3 projects)
2 MW of biomass-fired by the end of 2013 (2 projects) and more than 250 MW announced
(25 projects) Source: IRENA Renewable Energy Country Profiles 2013: http://www.irena.org/remaps/countryprofiles/pacific/australia.pdf
This ARENA (Australian Renewable ENergy Agency) website shows a selection of supported
projects (http://arena.gov.au/projects/). The complete list of projects can be viewed by technology.
Currently, ARENA is supporting 171 projects.
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Energy Sources and Forecast
Source: Roadmap bioenergy Australia 2020, http://www.energyfarmers.com.au/wp-content/uploads/01-Australian-Bioenergy-
Roadmap.pdf
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Renewables-based electricity generation in the New Policies Scenario
Source: OECD-IEA World Energy Outlook 2011 for Australia
5. ENERGY & BIOMASS POLICIES
Targets
20% of electricity generation from renewables by 2020
The Renewable Energy Target (RET) requires that 20 per cent of Australia’s electricity is
produced from renewable energy sources by 2020. The Large-scale Renewable Energy Target
(LRET) has a target of 41,000 gigawatt hours (GWh) by 2020 and only large-scale renewable
energy projects are eligible. For bioenergy only, a target of 11,000 GWh per annum (or about
4% of Australia’s electricity production) by 2020 is set. On the other hand, the Small-scale
Renewable Energy Scheme (SRES) exists. Home owners can reduce the cost of their solar
panels or solar water heater through the SRES.
Policy and Legislation
The general federal policies and laws for Australia can be found at the RVO website (see
country profiles). This paragraph contains more detailed information on renewable energy
policies.
Feed-in Tariff
At a federal level no feed-in tariffs for renewables exist. For solar power, feed-in tariffs and
arrangements in the different states and territories of Australia are the following: Source: http://www.solarchoice.net.au/solar-rebates/solar-feed-in-rewards
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Renewable Energy Plans
On the governmental webpage, numerous plans and schemes are mentioned to facilitate
achievement of the targets: http://australia.gov.au/topics/environment-and-natural-resources/energy. Some of
them are aimed specifically at renewable energy technology and supply (ARENA), economic
research and data analysis (BREE), carbon reduction and pricing (Clean Energy Regulator) et
cetera. Sources: http://www.climatechange.gov.au/carbon-tax-be-abolished-1-july-2014
http://www.aph.gov.au/About_Parliament/Parliamentary_Departments/Parliamentary_Library/Browse_by_Topic/ClimateChange/Govern
ance/Domestic/national/Mandatory
http://www.energyfarmers.com.au/wp-content/uploads/01-Australian-Bioenergy-Roadmap.pdf
http://australia.gov.au/topics/environment-and-natural-resources/energy
Information on import tariffs can be found with the Australian Customs and Border Protection
Service: http://www.customs.gov.au/tariff/tariff2012.asp
Other requirements for importing biomass can be found at the Ministry of Agriculture:
http://apps.daff.gov.au/icon32/asp/ex_querycontent.asp
6. FUNDING OPPORTUNITIES
Funding opportunities for bioenergy projects in Victoria: http://bioenergyvictoria.net.au/funding-and-
incentives/
Funding and support opportunities for biogas projects in Queensland: http://www.business.qld.gov.au/industry/energy/renewable-energy/starting-a-biogas-project/funding-and-support-for-biogas-
projects
Grants offered by Australian government for projects on Climate Change and Carbon
Reduction: http://www.climatechange.gov.au/grants
The Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) supports renewable energy projects with
funding from a range of initiatives and programs: http://arena.gov.au/initiatives-and-programs/
7. BUSINESS CLIMATE
Overall Rating
World Bank Ease of Doing Business index 2013 (Ranking out of 189 countries). In comparison,
the Netherlands is ranked 28 (2014) and 30 (2013). On this website information about
necessary permits, administration time, specific laws et cetera is present.
Topic DOING BUSINESS 2014 DOING BUSINESS 2013
Total rating 11 10
Starting a Business
4 4
Dealing with Construction Permits
10 10
Getting Electricity
34 36
Registering Property
40 38
Getting Credit
3 3
Protecting Investors
68 67
Paying Taxes
44 49
Trading Across Borders
46 43
Enforcing Contracts
14 14
Resolving Insolvency
18 18
Source: http://www.doingbusiness.org/data/exploreeconomies/australia
Logistics and Infrastructure
Based on a worldwide survey of operators on the ground, such as global freight forwarders and
express carriers, the Logistics Performance Index (LPI) measures the logistics "friendliness" of
155 countries. Ranking of Australia is place 18, scored 87.2% of highest performer
(Singapore).
Source: World Bank web.worldbank.org/WBSITE/EXTERNAL/TOPICS/TRADE/0,,contentMDK:23188613~pagePK:210058~piPK:210062~theSitePK:239071,00.html
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8. IMPORTANT CONTACTS
Dutch Embassy + Consulates
Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in Canberra
Netherlands Consulate-General in Sydney
Netherlands Honorary Consulate in Adelaide, Brisbane, Hobart, Melbourne, Perth and Port
Moresby Source: http://www.rijksoverheid.nl/onderwerpen/ambassades-consulaten-en-overige-vertegenwoordigingen
Chamber of Commerce
Dutch-Australian Chamber of Commerce http://ncca.com.au/
Universities and Research Institutes (www.bioenergyaustralia.org/members.html)
CSIRO http://www.csiro.au
The University of Western Australia http://uwa.edu.au
University of Melbourne – Melbourne Energy Institute http://www.unimelb.edu.au/
Curtin University of Technology http://www.curtin.edu.au/
Flinders University http://www.flinders.edu.au/
Institute for Sustainable Solutions, USyd http://www.pdx.edu/sustainability/
James Cook University http://www.jcu.edu.au/
Monash University http://www.monash.edu.au/
Murdoch University http://www.murdoch.edu.au/
University of Southern Queensland - National Centre for
Engineering in Agriculture
http://www.ncea.org.au/
Queensland University of Technology http://www.qut.edu.au/
Sunraysia Institute of TAFE http://www.sunitafe.edu.au
University of New England http://www.une.edu.au/
University of NSW http://www.pv.unsw.edu.au/
University of Queensland http://www.uq.edu.au/
University of the Sunshine Coast http://www.usc.edu.au/
Future Farm Industries CRC http://www.futurefarmcrc.com.au/
Rural Industries & Research Development Corporation http://www.rirdc.gov.au/
Sugar Research &Development Corporation http://www.srdc.gov.au/
Existing Agreements
Bilateral treaties: http://www.minbuza.nl/producten-en-diensten/verdragen/zoek-in-de-
verdragenbank?treatytitle=&formsubject=&formtreatyparty=&f=&t=&formlocation=&formspecialyear=&formspecialnr=&formtreatytype
=true#jump
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