Queensland’s BAP endorses the new biorefinery of MSF Sugar
Other biorefinery project [Note 1] benefiting from the Biofutures
Acceleration Program (BAP) of Queensland (Australia). The Government has thrown
its support behind a new biorefinery of MSF
Sugar (Australia’s largest sugarcane farmer, second largest raw sugar
exporter and the third largest miller) that could generate many jobs and
encourage diverse cropping in the region of Far North Queensland (see press
release of the company and statement
of the Government). The announcement took place on 10th July at MSF Sugar’s
Tableland Mill during a media event on the construction site of another of the
company’s major projects, the Green Energy Power Plant which is scheduled for
completion in 2018.
[Note 1] Recent posts about
projects supported by the BAP:
Project datasheet:
Location
|
Atherton
Tablelands, Far North Queensland (Australia)
|
Company
|
MSF Sugar
|
Concept
|
The full
complex will be an enhanced sugar mill consisting of four important sections:
the sugar mill, an agave juice mill, a green power station and a distillery.
The power
station and the distillery will operate 12 months of the year.
The plant
will contain two front-end processing facilities to separate sucrose, fermentable
juice and fibre.
|
Feedstock
|
Sugarcane
from irrigated land and blue agave from arid land.
|
Products
and production capacity
|
110 kton
of raw sugar.
55 ML of bioethanol.
It can
also be expanded to produce additional products: bioplastics, animal feeds
and ethanol-based aviation fuels.
|
Employment
|
80
construction/farming jobs.
50
operational jobs.
|
Timeline
|
See Figure 1.
|
Figure 1. Milestones of the Sugar MSF
biorefinery project in Atherton Tablelands
The Government support obtained through the BAP
will be used by MSF Sugar to complete a farm to market feasibility study that
examines all areas of the value chain relating to the establishment of a biorefining
industry on the Atherton Tableland. The feasibility study funded will consider
all processes related to farming the new agave crop, making the bioproducts and
delivering the end product to market. The findings will be used to assess the
commercial viability of the project and inform MSF Sugar’s decision on when to
commence project construction.
To allow the biorefinery to operate 12 months of
the year, MSF Sugar will carry out a blue agave pilot project thanks to a grant
received through the Queensland Government’s Biofutures Commercialisation
Program late last month (see statement).
Blue agave is a new crop to Australia but is extensively grown in Mexico to
produce the drink tequila. It grows in a climate similar to that of the dry
tropic part of the Atherton Tableland, it produces around 400 tons of biomass per
hectare in 5 years, does not need irrigation and provides a high amount of
fermentable juice and fibre. MSF Sugar intends to develop 4,000 ha of Tableland
farmland into agave plantations starting in 2020. As agave takes 5 years to
grow, it is anticipated the first commercial harvest will take place in 2025.
