Southern Oil, an Australian company, has received funding from the Queensland government to trial the production of renewable diesel fuel in heavy machinery such as trucks and marine engines.

As part of the grant, Southern Oil will move it’s company from Wagga Wagga in New South Wales to Gladstone in Queensland.

The trials which are expected to last up to 18 months are hoped to result in the construction of a fuel refinery within five years.

The trial which is supported by the Queensland’s government’s Advance Queensland Industry Attraction Fund will see Southern Oil manufacturing diesel from waste sources to be reused in a Scania V8 test engine.

The waste sources will come from plastic, old vehicle tyres, agriculture and forestry waste and bio-solids to make the diesel.

Neste, a Finnish company has been successfully making its diesel fuel from waste animal fat and vegetable oil.

Southern Oil which claims to be the leading factory of its kind in the Southern Hemisphere will trial an estimated one million litres of the renewable fuel source.

Southern Oil Refinery and SynBio managing director Tim Rose said Queensland is leading the country in biofutures and renewable fuels.

“We’re witnessing the first step toward proving that renewable diesel refined in Queensland from waste products can be chemically indistinguishable from petroleum-based diesel,” he said.

“Having a company like Scania endorse our fuel is crucial to creating commercial demand for our diesel and moving from pilot scale into demonstration scale.”

Source: Go-Auto.com.au – Diesel Refinery planned for QLD

18 Mar 2019