Australian Sugar Manufacturers (ASM) welcomed the release of the Queensland University of Technology’s (QUT) latest report on growing Australia’s bioeconomy. The report provides a roadmap to establish biomanufacturing capabilities in Australia.
The bioeconomy refers to economic activity that uses biological resources to sustainably produce food, energy and materials. The report identifies growth areas such as the biomanufacturing of sustainable products and the development of new foods.
“Australian sugar manufacturers can establish world leading capabilities in bioenergy, biofuels, and biomaterials, while continuing to be a globally significant producer of sugar,” said chief executive officer at ASM Ash Salardini.
“As an example, we can provide 500,000 homes with renewable baseload electricity by leveraging our biomass and can provide between 30 to 40 per cent of the liquid fuel needs of domestic aviation.”
According to ASM, the right policy and regulatory settings are needed to ensure Australian manufacturers can compete in the international market for bioproducts.
The establishment of a viable bioeconomy capability can be achieved through the research and development (R&D) roadmap outlined in the report.
“Sugar will be a regional manufacturing powerhouse if we can co-optimise the production of sugar and things like biofuels and bioenergy,” Salardini added.
“This requires R&D investment into areas like increasing the sugar and carbon content of cane, and investments in manufacturing processes that will ensure we can cost-effectively convert sugarcane into high value products beyond sugar.”
The report was published by researchers from QUT and the ARC Centre of Excellence in Synthetic Biology.