| Green Gympie? |
| Written by Jason Wilson | |||||
| Thursday, 06 March 2008 | |||||
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Gympie council candidate Paul Marshall wants the area to become a centre for biofuels.
Gympie could become a centre for the production of bio-fuels using an innovative CSIRO but this also increases the potential for the generation of toxic leachate, and this can remain a serious environmental problem decades into the future”, Mr Marshall said. “It is also using up valuable space in the tip, so we need to look at other alternates that turn this green waste from being a problem into being an asset,” he said. “Around the world many local government authorities have been turning this green waste into compost and selling it, and they have been doing so for decades. But new developments present some much more exciting options” Mr Marshall said researchers from CSIRO and Monash University developed a chemical process that turns green waste into a stable, high-value, bio-crude oil which can be used as a replacement fuel for petrol and diesel at competitive prices. Dr Steven Loffler from CSIRO Forest Biosciences is behind the new process which makes it practical and economical to produce bio-crude in local areas for transport to a central refinery. Mr Marshall said the process can use garden refuse, forest thinnings and timber mill waste, crop residues, etc, which is something Gympie has in plentiful supply. “Along with the garden waste and waste paper there is also organic waste from the Nestle coffee factory and the local timber mills that could be used, not to mention the huge volume of woody weed, such as Chinese Elm and Camphor Laurel, we have available”, he said. “The research team is hoping to build its first demonstration plant within two years, which they want to locate in a regional centre close to a plentiful supply of organic waste materials”, Mr Marshall said. “It would be wonderful to see Gympie chosen as that regional centre, but that will only happen if we have a forward looking, proactive Council,” Mr Marshall said. “This would give us the chance to make a significant contribution to combating global warming and give us the jump start with an exciting new technology”. Mr Marshall said the plant could be located at the Bonnick Road tip which could become the central green waste handling facility once the new central refuse facility was constructed. “If elected to Gympie Regional Council, I will be promoting this sort of innovative solution which have the potential to put our region at the leading edge of efforts to respond to the global warming challenge”, he said. Those interested in further information and website links about this innovative development should visit the following websites: www.csiro.au/news/ValuableFuel.html www.csiro.au/people/Steven.Loffler.html www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2008/02/04/2154292.htm
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