E10 fuel keeps on catching on in Queensland

Published Wednesday, 16 May, 2018 at 11:39 AM

Minister for Natural Resources, Mines and Energy
The Honourable Dr Anthony Lynham

One in five Queensland passenger vehicles is now using petrol with 10 per cent ethanol – a carbon reduction comparable to taking approximately 13,000 cars off the road.

Energy Minister Dr Anthony Lynham told Parliament today that 2.5 per cent of the regular petrol sold in Queensland in the last quarter of 2017 was ethanol, up from just 1.5 per cent when the Palaszczuk Government’s biofuels mandate commenced.

“We put the mandate in place to encourage industry to invest, innovate and create jobs as part of a cleaner, greener future for Queensland and a flourishing bio-manufacturing industry,” Dr Lynham said.

“The future for our biofuels and bio-manufacturing industries in Queensland is clearly very bright.”

Dr Lynham said the mandate had also achieved another milestone in the December quarter, with the first biodiesel entering the market, with volumes expected to increase in coming months.

“We’ve also seen the network of service stations supplying E10 expand to more than 600 - an increase of more than 260 sites in under two years.

“Now we need 80,000 passenger vehicles to swap to E10 to get to our three per cent target - just over one-and-a-half Suncorp stadiums of car owners.

“I challenge Queensland drivers to make the switch, buy a tank of E10 and fill that virtual stadium.”

The Palaszczuk Government’s biofuels mandate requires the fuel industry to meet targets for the sale of bio-based fuels: three per cent ethanol for regular unleaded petrol and a half a percent biodiesel for all diesel fuel by 1 July 2018. The ethanol mandate increases to four per cent on 1 July 2018.

Dr Lynham said the biodiesel industry was still in its infancy, but the government was working closely with industry to tackle the challenges to growing the sector.

“Importantly, further investment is currently underway to improve the supply chain to enable biodiesel blending, storage and transport in Queensland,” Dr Lynham told the House.

 [ENDS]

Media inquiries: Jan Martin 0439 341 314