Biofuels can reduce transport emissions and may reduce costs in the heavy vehicle industry reports Foresion in their latest study into Supply Chains for Future Road Transport Fuels in Australia. In some Australian states, electric vehicles still produce only slightly less carbon emissions than a regular gasoline powered vehicle because of coal-fired electricity grids. Increasing the biofuel content in regular fuels is one way of immediately reducing carbon emissions as electricity grids transition away from fossil-fuel based generation.

Electrification also isn’t yet a viable option for heavy vehicles due to long charging times, range limitations and battery weights. Biofuels, therefore, provide an opportunity to immediately reduce transport emissions without needing to radically redesign energy distribution or to replace existing fleets.

The forestry industry is uniquely positioned to supply large amounts of biomass from forest residues that would otherwise be underutilised thus increasing the potential value of for resource while offsetting the costs associated with biomass removal/biomass management.

As part of an integrated approach to transportation the forest industry could be encouraged to diversify their revenue sources, reduce their emissions, and build circular economy credentials by better management of waste while contributing to supply chain decarbonisation.

Only two Australian states currently have biofuels mandates, New South Wales and Queensland. New South Wales mandates 2% biodiesel and 6% ethanol content while Queensland mandates just 0.5% biodiesel and 4% ethanol content. “There is a real opportunity to decrease emissions and jump-start an entire biofuels industry just by reaching these figures in other Australian states.”

Read the full report here