Biofuel

It started as a war-time snack that reduced waste during food scarcity, but now tallow is making Australia one of the most significant players in biofuel exports.

While you might recognise algae growing in your fish tank or floating on a lake, it can be transformed into a human food source that can also power your car, and it doesn't compete for space with crops.

Touted as a new-age biofuel by its promoters, a safflower harvest has been sold as birdseed after a lawyer found an alternative market for farmers who had been contracted to grow it.

A plan to produce vegetable oil for biofuel could see a Queensland town recrowned the sunflower capital, after disease and market pressures wiped them from the landscape.

A new report commissioned by Bioenergy Australia has found renewable fuel could help decarbonise industries like aviation, construction, agriculture and mining.

With port and rail infrastructure already in place, the project to create environmentally cleaner aviation fuel will be based in north Queensland.

Mining giant BHP has launched a "renewable diesel" trial to reduce carbon emissions at a Pilbara iron ore mine, but an environmental engineer says the company may be better off with the real thing.

An environmental group is set to produce biofuels for the Japanese aviation industry by establishing a commercial pongamia plantation in Queensland.

Canefarmers hoping to supply the Maryborough sugar mill once it is refurbished are losing faith, but Advanced Energy Group says it is pushing forward on its biofuel plan. 

Queensland researchers say making sustainable fuels, cosmetics, solvents, and paints in Australia is a step closer after developing a way to quickly convert sugar cane into a renewable chemical.

New technology to replace diesel fuel could transform the freight industry and a lot of the machinery used in agriculture and mining. So what does that look like on the ground?

The transport industry is the second-biggest polluter in Australia and its decarbonisation is critical to meet lagging climate change targets, but industry insiders say simple changes to regulation could be made now to charm the freight industry into making the switch. 

Sovereign risk is a term that surfaces almost every time a major corporation doesn't fancy something, like government intervention to rein in surging energy prices, writes business editor Ian Verrender.

When the sugar factory at Maryborough closed two years ago it was the end of 126 years of crushing. Now, a new deal could see it brought back to life as a bio-energy hub.

The global oil price slump does not necessarily mean you will pay less to fill your tank.

Commonwealth, state and territory energy ministers have agreed on a plan to improve energy reliability and affordability, but it won't deliver relief for the current crisis.

A council in Australia opens the first biosolids gasification plant in the Southern Hemisphere, which turns human waste into renewable energy, at Logan, south of Brisbane.

A Cloncurry café is turning cooking oil into biodiesel as a solution to high fuel prices. Julia Andre reports.

Fuel prices are putting a serious dent in business profits. This outback cafe has devised a unique solution. 

An outback cafe recycles their cooking oil into biodiesel.

Australia's biodiesel sector wants better investment to help improve the nation's fuel security as the war in Ukraine highlights the volatility of relying on a global oil supply.

From emptying your boot to removing your roof racks — these are some of the surprising tricks drivers can use to save hundreds of dollars on petrol every year.

Farmers and transport operators are bracing for even higher fuel prices after US President Joe Biden announced a ban on Russian oil imports overnight.

Researchers are studying how to turn waste food into cosmetics, electricity, and plastic

The first fast-charger for EVs has been installed on the Nullarbor Plain, opening up the remote region to battery-powered motorists.