ARENA invests $32m in HAMR Energy for sustainable fuel production
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The news: The Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) has provided $32 million in funding to HAMR Energy for the transformation of plantation forestry residues into sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) at its facility in Victoria, marking a major step toward achieving the nation’s decarbonisation goals.
The context: The funding, announced at Adelaide Airport on Wednesday, marks the first investment under the government’s $250 million Low Carbon Liquid Fuels priority. The initiative is funded through the Future Made in Australia Innovation Fund to support the domestic production of lower-emissions fuels for aviation.
HAMR stated that the new capital will fund the engineering and development work across its supply chain, focusing on plantation forestry residues to produce low-carbon methanol, SAF and other renewable fuels.
Once production ramps up, HAMR said the project has the potential to process approximately 600,000 tonnes of plantation forestry residues annually, displacing up to 140 million litres of fossil fuels, the equivalent of 390,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide. The company expects to cut carbon emission by 85% compared with conventional fossil fuels.
What they said: “Australia has an abundant supply of forest waste, and turning it into fuel for hard-to-abate sectors like aviation would be a win for emissions, Australian industry and regional jobs,” Federal Minister for climate change and energy Chris Bowen said.
“Projects like this can help strengthen Australia’s long-term fuel resilience by supporting more domestic fuel production and a more diverse fuel supply, making us more resilient to global energy shocks,” he added.
The source: HAMR media release
