he oil mallee industry has is emerging as a potential addition to dryland agriculture systems with many attributes that can also improve farming practice. This idea is being supported by several proponents of biofuel and bioenergy production from biomass. It is expected that this form of new energy production will be an important part of the decarbonisation of the Australian economy and at the same time create new regional industry opportunities.
R&D surrounding the oil mallee industry has been extensive over the last 15 years, emerging originally in the form of genetic selection and the search for improved yields of biomass and eucalyptus oil. The story of this development activity centres largely on investment by State and Commonwealth government, with Murdoch University investing early in the research.
The State Department of Conservation and Land Management (now known as the Department of Environment and Conservation) conducted several research programs and initiated the establishment of orchards from which they could select seed from high performing species and individual trees.
The R&D program was given a strong boost by Western Power's interest in the creation of the Integrated Wood Processing facility, a project that tested methodologies for production of energy, eucalyptus oil and activated carbon. When Western Power was disaggregated into three components of the energy chain, Verve Energy became the relevant authority for development of the IWP project.
Two principle agencies that have invested significantly into R&D for the oil mallee industry are the Future Farm Industries Cooperative Research Centre (FFI CRC) (until 2014) and Curtin University Centre for Chemical Engineering.
This web site has been designed principally for use by farmers, growers and students. Those wishing to know more about industry opportunities are welcome to contact the Oil Mallee Association for further information.
The Oil Mallee Project aims to develop an industry that will produce eucalyptus oil, charcoal, activated carbon and 'green electricity' as bulk industrial products from selected eucalypt species across a range of Wheatbelt conditions. The project is based on the assumption that the fastest way to increase the rate of planting Oil Mallees in a bid to address land degradation issues, is to make it profitable to do so.
The focus on oil mallees as a commercial crop is the product of a careful and deliberate screening of options. There are broad limitations to the development of commercial farm forestry in the WA Wheatbelt. The low rainfall, high evaporation rates, incidence of frost and the ancient soils of the area will limit the species selection and lengthen the rotation in much of the landscape.
The Oil Mallee Project was initiated by CALM in 1994 with support from the National Landcare and Farm Forestry Programs. A more formal growers representative body was necessary and the Oil Mallee Association (OMA) was formed in 1995.
Integrated Wood Processing (IWP)OMA and CALM recognised in the early 90's that it was going to be difficult to ensure the profitability of oil mallees if eucalyptus oil was the only source of revenue. Consequently over several years, various other products derived from oil mallees were assessed.
The image above identifies potential biofuel processing sites.
Please click on the following links to download the respective files. The doctoral thesis below is a recent addition and contains historical and industry analysis from an envionmentasl economics perspective. S Dawkins 2020: The Sustainability of Carbon Mitigation in Dryland Farming Systems This thesis contains many relevant references to the industry and its context in climate change policy. The link is: https://espace.curtin.edu.au/bitstream/handle/20.500.11937/83307/Dawkins%20S%202020.pdf?sequence=1
The link between Oil Mallees and carbon sinks is a very significant one. WA was one of the first Australian states to enact carbon rights legislation resulting in the Carbon Rights Act 2003. The Oil Mallee Company Ltd (OMC) was a joint venture with CO2 Australia to assist commercial development and utilised the Act in a project developed jointly with the Kansai Electric Company of Japan to create a 1000 hectare carbon sequestration planting across 24 properties in the northern Wheatbelt.
This historic project used the integrated "belt" planting style across cropping programs which had been perfected on other properties and demonstrated the alignment with farming practices of the time. This methodology was one of the first purpose grown sink projects in Australia and was visited by many farmers and farming groups and agencies. The project has become a template on which a number of carbon sink companies have developed their business models. The OMA has warned farmers to be wary of long-term covenants on the use of their land, but be alert to the proposals that actually incorporate an option for more active management and harvesting of the trees at some time in the future. The OMA has been actively seeking to have the carbon incorporated in existing plantations recognised through a suitable ERF (Emission Reduction Fund) methodology.
The passing of Commonwealth legislation that set a target for the proportion of renewable energy dispatched by electricity retailers established a market in renewable energy certificates (RECs) and provided a boost to the potential for biomass as a fuel source for production of energy. The target has been raised in the last few years but the proportion of energy generated by biomass has remained very low. This is expected to change.
The combination of a price on carbon and the availability of RECs would make a big difference to the relative costs of biomass and other forms of energy. The use of wood as a source for energy is considered to be "zero rated" and therefore to have nil emissions as the fuel spent is replaced and the emissions absorbed by subsequent growth. The "base load" characteristic of bioenergy can also be an advantage over more intermittent sources in certain applications.
The King Review of 2020 (Examining additional sources of low cost abatement: expert panel report), chaired by Grant King, provided some valuable proposals to generate low cost abatement including the allocation of ACCUs to the production of biofuel that replaced traditional fuels. The Commonwealth Government has endorsed most of the recommendations but has yet to act on implementing the changes. https://www.industry.gov.au/sites/default/files/2020-05/expert-panel-report-examining-additional-sources-of-low-cost-abatement.pdf
