Leaf completes the prefeasibility study on a commercial biorefinery in Queensland

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Type of post: NEWS.

Leaf Resources Limited has recently announced advancements in its two main projects. Below, the highlights are summarized.
Source: ASX (Australian Securities Exchange).
Related posts:
- “Leaf signs land purchase option for a biorefinery project in Malaysia”, 20/11/2017.
- “Leaf and B&G sign MOU for the feedstock supply of the first Malaysian Glycell biorefinery”, 16/7/2018.

Completion of a prefeasibility study on a second-generation commercial biorefinery in Queensland
- The study assessed plans to develop a biomanufacturing hub in a sugarcane producing region of Queensland. The proposed biorefinery would use Leaf’s patented Glycell™ technology to speed up and reduce the cost of converting plant waste, in this case sugarcane fibre, into sustainable chemicals, biofuels and bioplastics.
- There are currently 12 million bone dry tons of available biomass in Queensland (more than 90% from the sugar cane industry and 80% produced in North Queensland). There is enough biomass to facilitate several lignocellulosic initiatives.
- The company explored Queensland-based locations for the proposed biorefinery and focused on one brownfield site and one greenfield site in the North Queensland region. Both sites present similar risks and opportunities and would notably benefit from cane cleaning technology due to lower production costs and greater yield of sugar per hectare.
- The project showed profitability was achievable for material that currently has no value in the sugar cane industry.  Given that there is minimal appetite for investment in the sugar industry in Australia due to international competition, the project opens the door for a renewed investment with value adding across the entire chain of the sugar industry.
- Alex Baker (CEO of Leaf Resources) said the study highlighted enough potential for Leaf to move forward on next steps.
- Leaf was able to embark on validation works and the prefeasibility study due to funding from the Queensland Government’s Biofutures Acceleration Program.

Figure 1. Sugarcane trash

Malaysian Government continues to support Leaf biorefinery project in Johor Province
- The Malaysian Investment Development Authority (MIDA) has continued to show strong interest in the project which progresses through its final engineering feasibility study (FEL3). Leaf Malaysia was granted a manufacturing licence by MIDA in October 2018 for the production of fermentable sugars (hexose and pentose), refined glycerol and lignin.
- Malaysia’s National Innovation Agency, Agensi Inovasi Malaysia (AIM), has also continued to express strong support for the project.
- Leaf works with MIDA and AIM to identify and secure additional assistance, including the establishment of a taskforce to assist with implementation of the project and coordination of other government agencies.

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