Biofuel company wins funds for further research

Somersby based biofuel company, Licella Pty Ltd, has won $2.3 million in matching funds from the Australian Government’s $15 million Second Generation Biofuels Research and Development Program. Licella’s ground-breaking technology aims to take inedible waste such as timber residues or sawdust and turn it into fuel through a process called lignocellulosics.

Speaking during a visit to the site, Federal Minister for Resources and Energy, The Hon Martin Ferguson AM MP applauded Licella’s innovative approach.

“The next generation of biofuels is important to Australia’s energy security and our response to the challenge of climate change,” he said. “Unlike the contemporary biofuels, second generation biofuels will not compete directly with the food industry for resources or markets. They provide unique opportunities to supplement existing fuel supplies in a low-carbon, low-cost way.”

Second generation biofuels can be produced from ‘waste’ materials such as wheat straw, forestry residues, algae, grasses and materials grown on land that would be unsuitable for traditional food crops. It is hoped they can play an important part in Australia’s energy future, diversifying fuel sources at a time when global competition for existing fossil fuels is getting tougher.

The Second Generation Biofuels Research and Development Program is part of the Australian Government’s $4.5 billion Clean Energy Initiative and aims to bolster Australia’s energy security and deliver an environmental benefit at the same time. Licella Pty Ltd is one of seven recipients of Second Generation Biofuels Research and Development Program funding announced by Minister Ferguson last month.

The grant was awarded to Licella which is a subsidiary company of Ignite Energy Resources and the development work will be undertaken at the Somersby Advanced Engineering Facility owned by Ignite Energy Resources. Licella has explored various techniques for creating biofuel from non-food woody plant waste or biomass and has made a deceptively simple breakthrough by recognising that all three elements that make up biomass – hemicellulose, cellulose and lignin – are valuable.

Licella has the management background, engineering skills and development infrastructure (pilot plant) to fully optimise the process and move through the commercial design to project development and operations phases.

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