Evaluating carbon abatement opportunities for biomass from marginal, less-productive lands in NSW

Project Lead: Saori Miyake, University of Technology, Sydney

Project Partners: Institute for Sustainable Futures (UTS), NSW DPI, CAIK-UTS, CO2e Partners

There is growing interest and demand for Australia’s biomass resources driven by national and international decarbonisation policies. Transport fuels for long distance aviation and marine transport is one of the most difficult sectors to decarbonise. Our project will evaluate biomass production opportunities for transport fuels in NSW. The focus will be on native woody vegetation and/or grass that is suitable for the ‘marginal, less unproductive lands’ which make up large areas of NSW. As well as developing scenarios for different regions, we will also estimate the carbon abatement opportunity that exists and provide a qualitative assessment of other co-benefits. Diverse case study regions will be selected, including at least one on Aboriginal land. The research outcomes will therefore support the development of an emerging industry in NSW for producing sustainable transport fuels for domestic and export markets, and explore options for Aboriginal communities for their climate change mitigation strategies.

Project Timeline: June 2024 – November 2024