Steve’s interests are in all forms of new and alternative energy sources, with his current assignment as Bioenergy Australia Manager providing the opportunity to gain expertise in biomass and biomass energy.

Established in 1997 as a government-industry forum to foster and facilitate the development of biomass for energy, liquid fuels, and other value added bio-based products, Bioenergy Australia is concerned with all aspects of biomass and bioenergy, from production through to utilisation, and its work embraces technical, commercial, economic, societal, environmental, policy and market issues.

Where does your interest in clean energy stem from?

Around 1990 I was responsible for new technologies at Pacific Power, then Australia’s largest power utility. This position covered all renewables, being responsible for some of the early pioneering work in wind energy, solar thermal, solar PV, energy storage, fuel cells, electric vehicles, and bioenergy. I was subsequently appointed through my consultancy to run the day-to-day operations of what is now Bioenergy Australia, an alliance of some 89organisations fostering the development of biomass for heat, power, transportation fuels and value-added bio-based products.

What top two steps does the industry need to take to be cost-competitive with traditional energy generation? How can they be achieved?

At the present time, traditional, fossil fuel-based energy production does not bear the environmental costs of greenhouse gas emissions in Australia – there is no price on carbon. The renewables industry will only become cost-competitive when it convinces the powers that be and the community to factor in an appropriate carbon price.

Fuel supply can be a cost barrier for bioenergy. The industry also needs to further establish low cost, long-term, reliable fuel sources and supply chains to support this nascent industry.

What has been the greatest achievement of the clean energy industry, or your sector, in the past five years?

Globally, bioenergy provides approximately 52,000 megawatts (MW) of base load capacity. This is on par with Australia’s total coal-fired capacity. Australia has made slow but steady progress in the past few years, with 30 MW scale plants having been commissioned at the Condong and Broadwater Sugar Mills. Total bioelectricity capacity now exceeds 870 MW.

Where do you see the bioenergy sector going in the short and long term?

The Clean Energy Council’s Bioenergy Roadmap for stationary energy indicates the industry should readily quadruple by 2020 and grow by 10 per cent per year for the next 40 years, to be 40 times its current scale by 2050. Given the appropriate incentives, I believe these figures could well be attained.

What are the top two government incentives/policy measures you would like to see implemented today? Why?

The two big determinants for the success of bioenergy are the price received for the clean energy produced and the cost of ongoing fuel supply. Several overseas jurisdictions provide attractive offtake arrangements, via feed-in tariffs for bioenergy. Feed-in tariffs in Australia need to be expanded to bioelectricity, at an appropriate scale. A scheme, similar to the US Biomass Crops Assistance Program, which provides matching funding for biomass supplies, would also assist this industry. What promising project/technology is Australian industry currently developing or implementing?

Biomass co-firing with coal, using existing power station boilers, promises to be one of the lowest cost sources of renewable energy. Delta Electricity recently launched a $200 million project for growing oil mallees as an energy crop and pelletising this fuel for co-firing in its Wallerawang Power Station at high levels. Trials have already commenced. This will hopefully develop two elements of bioenergy – fuel supply systems and energy conversion at high efficiency.

What one piece of advice would you give new entrants to the clean energy industry?

Have realistic expectations of the challenges, costs and time taken to develop projects and businesses in the bioenergy sector.