12 minute read
The future is coming: Biocommodities on the rise in Mackay
BY KIRILI LAMB
There’s a buzz in Mackay and Plane Creek as momentum and enthusiasm grows for diversification of sugarcane-based products.
Precision fermented proteins, biopharmaceuticals, sustainable aviation fuel and bio-plastics manufacturing—and a proposed State Development Area to house it. Within 10 years, but as soon as two, domestic and international biocommodities manufacturers will be establishing in the region, taking the leap from pilot projects to commercialisation.
CANEGROWERS Mackay Chairman Kevin Borg said that the time was ripe for the development of a vibrant biofutures sector that uses sugarcane as its base.
“The idea of value-adding has been discussed many times, certainly over the 40 years I’ve been in the cane growing industry. It’s never quite got there. But now, there is strong political will to see this develop. The industry is getting support from government in terms of policy and action, it’s never looked as positive,” Mr Borg said.
“The manufacturers are looking to the Mackay region because of our stability, capability, and also because more and more growers are accrediting under Smartcane BMP, which is the cane growers’ sustainability hallmark. These manufacturers are looking for a transparently sustainable supply chain, from paddock to port.”
We go forward with that same passion to see our growers get a premium for their cane, as the feedstock for any biocommodities.
Mr Borg sits, along with Mackay District Manager Michelle Martin, on the Greater Whitsunday Biofutures Leaders Group. For quite a few years, this position was filled by the late CANEGROWERS Mackay CEO Kerry Latter.
“Kerry had a great passion for the development of a biofutures sector and worked hard to see it realised for the betterment of the local industry.
The Leaders Group takes in key decision-makers from across the region’s sugar value chain, local and state government, and from regional economic development. Its purpose is to steer and support the development of a biocommodities sector for the region.
The Leaders Group is a flow-on from the State Government’s designation of the Mackay region as appropriate for development as a biocommodities hub in the 2016 Queensland Biofutures 10-Year Roadmap and Action Plan.
In the roadmap, there is particular emphasis on Mackay as a hub for development of a Future Foods sector. Earlier this year, the Queensland Government called for comment on a proposed 1,019 ha State Development Area around Racecourse Mill at the edge of Mackay city and the nearby Rosella locale.
Future Foods include precision fermented plant-based proteins—in this case milk or egg alternatives that use raw sugar as the feedstock. It is a next-generation fermentation process defined by CSIRO as “a technique in which microbes are genetically reprogrammed to produce specific, customised molecules that can serve as new food ingredients.” A solution for a rapidly growing world population (reaching 9.8 billion people by 2050 according to the United Nations), where traditional protein sources are expected to be unable to meet global demand.
The race is on to scale up production of protein from renewable, low carbon feedstocks—like sugarcane—to complement traditional and other emerging protein sources. The sector is expected to be a $700B market by 2040. Find out more by googling CSIRO Future Protein Mission.
At the head of the Greater Whitsunday Biofutures Leaders Group is Kylie Porter, CEO of the regional economic development peak body Greater Whitsunday Alliance (GW3).
“The Leaders Group brings together those decision-makers around the one table, we tend to leave personal agendas or individual company objectives at the door and talk about how to establish an industry that doesn’t yet exist at scale, globally,” Ms Porter said. “So, some of these are really big conundrums about how we do that.”
“The region-wide approach and this level of collaboration is unusual. It’s not seen widely across the world in this space, and I think that’s sending a really strong signal that this region is ready to embrace a new and emerging industry. That we are willing to do what it takes to get it started.
“The potential around synthetic biology or sustainable aviation fuel is hugely impactful for our regional economy, not just in terms of economic output, but also in terms of skilling. These industries will require a different level of skills, jobs and careers.
“And also, around innovation, it is going to require a whole range of innovative thinking to get some of these new products to actual commercial scale. There are a range of huge advantages for the region.”
She sees the emergent industry as part of generational change, particularly important in the context of the larger shifts that are occurring in global industries and economies.
“Our region will transform over the next generation. We will need to think about the transferability of our workforce skills. At the moment we see we have a very large exposure to one industry, the mining sector. Over the next 30-50 years, that exposure to our workforce is going to increase. We need to be mindful of looking for new, emerging industries which link to our strengths, that we can capitalise on in the future,” Ms Porter said.
She added that beyond the need for scientists and precision engineers, the biocommodities sector would need support from a diversity of skills areas.
“We also need a really strong technical skills base to deliver the product in its end form: our region has developed a really solid reputation for having a world-class workforce in that space.” For growers, Ms Porter felt that these emerging sectors, whether fuel or food, offered industry security.
“It will provide confidence that their product has long-term viability. This is about transforming the future of the industry,” Ms Porter said.
This strategy allows the region’s world class engineering sector to springboard off one of its oldest industries, sugar, and both sectors can enjoy a place in a world economy that is seeking renewable feedstocks like sugarcane to sustain the planet’s needs in terms of food, fibre and fuels. Mackay region has a long history with diversifying sugar, and Plane Creek Mill is home to the Wilmar Bioethanol distillery, established in 1927 and which produces 60ML of ethanol per year for fuel, pharmaceuticals, printing and food. It also produces 258ML of BioDunder fertiliser and liquid stock feed.
Mackay Sugar’s Racecourse Mill site has housed the QUT-owned and operated Mackay Renewable Biocommodities Pilot Plant for 12 years. Professor Ian O’Hara, QUT Deputy Dean, Faculty of Engineering leads the plant.
“The Mackay Renewable Biocommodities Pilot Plant supports the research and development of new biofuels and bioproducts technologies,” Prof O’Hara said.
“The pilot plant has been operating since 2010 and supported dozens of projects with industry partners from across the sugar industry, Australia and the world. Recently, pilot plant activities have supported the development of a new sustainable aviation fuel technology being developed by Mercurius Biorefining.”
Mercurius Project Manager Eric Seck said his company’s pilot project concluded in June 2023, with research continuing now in the US. However, they are keen to return to the Mackay region, to step up from that pilot phase to a pioneer plant, and a first of its kind test production of carbon negative sustainable aviation fuel, renewable diesel and bioplastics from bagasse.
“We want to have the facility site planned and operational as soon as possible. We have plans to go from 100kg to 30 tonne per day, and would like to build in Queensland in 2025-26,” said Mr Seck.
“There are challenges in finding a site, but we hope to establish at or around a sugar mill in the region. We like bagasse as a feedstock. It has excellent potential as it is aggregated at the mill site, other feedstocks are a challenge because they require transport of low density material.”
He said the future for sustainable fuels is “potentially massive” with demand into the billions of litres annually. Likewise, bioplastic presents a huge market opportunity.
“Bioplastics, such as next generation polymer PEF, derived from FDCA produced from bagasse has use in packaging materials, such as bottles and food. These have superior performance characteristics over the commonly used material PET and are easier to recycle. The market is already large, in the billions of dollars per year and growing.” Mr Seck said.
Local business Townsend Industry has invested heavily in pioneering an exciting and highly precise “separation” process of milling that shows outstanding promise in delivering material for diverse and quality bioplastics and foods and are at the stage of seeking funding to commercialise. The owners declined to comment further.
Currently, it is the Future Food sector that is preparing to take it’s turn at the QUT Mackay Renewable Biocommodities Pilot Plant. Prof Ian O’Hara said the QUT pilot was looking forward to engaging with the future foods sector.
“The pilot plant is currently undergoing a major upgrade to support new and emerging technologies including the development of new food products by converting sugar into alternative proteins and fats. Once this upgrade is complete, the pilot plant will have significantly expanded capability to support new product development in the sugar industry for the next decade.”
Cauldron Molecules is an emerging Australian precision fermentation company, that plans to establish a scalable plant in Mackay in the near future. CEO Michele Stansfield said Cauldron had developed building on her experience in precision fermentation research and development with other companies.
“It turned out, when we really looked at the ecosystem, there was nowhere for these companies to manufacture,” Ms Stansfield said. “So even if we did amazing science, gave robust technology, it didn’t matter because there were no factories.”
With support from the CSIRO venture capital arm Main Sequence from February 2022, Cauldron was established, with a plant in Orange, NSW. The company not only seeks to manufacture and research, but to also build factories for other companies using microbes to “create the new generation of food, feed and fibre”.
Ms Stansfield said that the 25,000L Orange facility was a demonstration plant producing 60t of product per year: “It is the largest publicly available plant south of India.”
The Orange plant was upscaled, and Cauldron are now seeking to establish in a region like Mackay that has all the right synergies for sustainable production.
“We are currently doing a feasibility study and working with the Queensland Government on the potential co-funding of a facility in the Mackay region, of which we would hope to have the first lines functional by the end of 2025.
Speaking at the time of the feasibility study announcement in January 2023, Deputy Premier and State Development Minister Steven Miles said it would be an Asia-Pacific first.
“The proposed $300 million facility will provide the anchor infrastructure Queensland needs to catalyse a new commercial-scale industry, complement the region’s agricultural and manufacturing strengths, protect existing jobs in the sugar industry, diversify the local economy and create new local jobs,” Dr Miles said.
“Queensland can be at the centre of meeting the global demand for food with our strong animal agriculture industries and the natural resources, talented workforce and government commitment to growing the biofutures industry, which includes Future Foods.”
Mackay Sugar and its growers’ capabilities sit at the heart of many of these plans.
The feasibility study is looking at a 500,000L line facility, but Cauldron is interested, in the longer term, in establishing a four-million litre facility.
Ms Stansfield said that the limiting factor for Cauldron’s production was the availability of sugar, but they were exploring business models that shared the value of the manufactured product.
“We are looking to work with the industry, not just acquiring sugar from it,” she said. “Sugar is $900 a tonne at the moment, but say on average $530 a tonne, where you look at protein, and protein is worth anywhere between $15 and $300 a kilogram, so there’s a huge uplift in the value of that sugar, and we are looking at mechanisms by which we can share that with millers’ and growers’ business mechanisms.”
And it is not just Cauldron that are looking at Mackay’s combination of stable sugar supply, engineering capability, renewable energy, and port facilities. US manufacturer Pivotal Ingredients also announced in July an intention to establish a Mackay facility, aiming for the next two years to commence construction.
Mackay Sugar CEO Jannik Olejas said the sugar industry has a long history within the region, and in the past the industry has been able to adapt and adjust to make the best use of new opportunities when they presented themselves.
“The biofutures space is presenting a potential for diversification and we are excited to explore what lies ahead,” Mr Olejas said.
“The biofutures sector is only just in its infancy and already presents significant opportunities for those willing to be part of it. After many years of generating green electricity via our cogeneration plant, which is exported to the grid and provides energy to approximately one third of Mackay households each year, Mackay Sugar is proud to contribute to the sectors ongoing development.
One of the logistical challenges remains volume of production, although confidence is firm.
“We look forward to partnering with like-minded business and industry to create value, sustainably, across the region.”
“Securing the volume of land under cane has been a priority for us for several years and continues to be something we focus on by trying to engage all relevant stakeholders,” Olejas said.
“The opportunities being brought forward by the bio-futures sector makes this an even more exciting time to be involved in the sugar industry, and whilst there will always be the typical agricultural challenges, the infrastructure we have in place already positions us well for future growth.”
He said it was pleasing to see so many stakeholders actively collaborating to explore the topic of biofutures.
“We believe it to be important that we all appreciate that need to collaborate, which includes “inviting” new people into our industry,” Mr Olejas said.
“We need people with ideas on how to use precision fermentation or produce sustainable aviation fuel—all based on those products that we, growers and millers, know very well how to produce. This way we shall hopefully succeed in creating value for all who have skin in the game.”
