Sub sections:
Conversion of Eucalypt Forestry Waste Residues to Biofuels
Project leader: Tony Vancov, I&I NSW, Wollongbar
Tony has been awarded a 14 month Department of Agriculture and Fisheries and Forestry (DAFF) Climate Change Research Fund project titled “Conversion of Eucalypt Forestry Waste Residues to Biofuels”. The work will be undertaken by I&I NSW under Dr Tony Vancov’s supervision at Wollongbar Primary Industries Institute. This project is designed to advance research and development of technologies for the production of second generation biofuels from forestry harvest and mill residues, particularly plantation eucalypts in the Northern Rivers of NSW.
Specifically, the proposed research aims to develop and optimise pre-treatment platforms based on biochemical and enzyme hydrolysis that will allow conversion of forest residues to ‘core’ carbohydrates which may in turn be used for producing fuel ethanol and other value-added co-products. Owing to the condensed time-frame, Tony plans to initially focus the study on optimising pre-treatment conditions using Eucalyptus dunni and then broaden to measure the effects of variables such as age, growth site and other selective silvicultural traits that influence wood rheology.