As part of AMPC’s Decarbonisation Pathway to help guide processors to a more meaningful reduction in processor emissions, biomass boilers have been trialled at several Australian meat processing facilities over the past five years.
The results from the pilot trials have verified that biomass is an effective option for red meat processors to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and reduce costs. Shifting to biomass to replace fossil fuels for heating could help the industry save an estimated $75.5 million per year.
AMPC Program Manager Matthew Deegan said, “Australian red meat processors have shown they are serious about adopting bioenergy to help reduce onsite fossil fuel use. Since 2020, bioenergy use has overtaken onsite coal as the processing sector’s second-largest source of thermal energy.
“The pilot trials have created a step-change in confidence and capability that helped instigate this shift away from onsite coal consumption. As a result, the project received the 2024 Australasian Industry Project Award from the Institute of Chemical Engineers.
“The next step in this research involves conducting pre-feasibility studies with two processing facilities to determine suitability for whole-of-industry adoption,” Matthew said.
AMPC members with a comprehensive understanding of the final report findings can apply for one of only two available complementary biomass pre-feasibility studies to support your processing facility in its transition away from fossil fuels. All Energy will conduct these studies.
The submission must include a rationale for why your processing facility wants the pre-feasibility study, what biomass fuel your processing facility will use and how that will support the processing facility to transition from fossil fuels to a cleaner energy source.
To find out whether your processing facility is suitable for one of the pre-feasibility studies, please contact AMPC Program Manager Matthew Deegan at m.deegan@ampc.com.au or 0429 977 028.