Big energy prospect

Press, 29 August 1979, Page 1

Big energy prospect

PA Auckland A new report makes it clear that it is technically possible to supply all New Zealand’s transport fuel from energy farming, says its author, Dr C. J. Maiden. This would depend on turning more than one million hectares of land to energy farming, says Dr Maiden, the chairman of the Energy Research and Development Committee. The report recommends the construction of three processing plants. Two would be small-scale experimental plants, one to produce ethanol from crops in the South Island and the other for methanol production from wood in the North Island. The aims of the report were to determine the potential of energy farming for transport fuels and the most profitable directions for future development, Dr Maiden said. The study was undertaken by an energy farming research group headed by Dr Garth Harris, the energy committee’s executive officer. The production of fodder beet to make ethanol in the South Island appears to be the most economically attractive option, followed by' methanol from radiata pine in the North Island, the report says. However, recommended planting trials bf other crops and trees, and modified processing methods could lead to even lower ' cost transport fuels from biomass. The third plant would be a commercial one using about 200 dry tonnes of fodder beet a day to produce ethanol to replace about 1 per cent of New Zealand’s gasoline requirements. This plant would be in the South Island, use conventional fermentation technology and be commissioned in 1982-83. The report estimates the cost of such a plant at $5 million to $lO million. The study shows that it would take many years for significant quantities of transport fuels to be produced from agricultural and forest products, but Dr Maiden said it was important that an immediate start be made so that

energy farming can become a major contributor of transport fuels in the 19905. The development of fuels from biomass is seen initially as complementary to the use of Maui gas in the transport sector and, long term, as replacing such use of natural gas. In Wellington, the Minister of Energy (Mr Birch) said that the report opened up exciting new prospects

for land use in New Zealand with wide-ranging benefits for agriculture, industry and employment. The report showed it was time to translate the research and development effort invested in energy fanning into a practical commercial application, using the resources of the private sector. "The next step will be to arrange a seminar for interested parties.”