Bio-ethanol is produced by fermenting plant-derived sugars to ethanol, using a similar process to that used in beer and wine-making. Iro Resource's technology doesn't use sugar as its feedstock, it uses sugar cane fibre (top, leaves and stalks), a waste stream which can't be used for food

We use waste sugar cane fibre and gas to first create syngas (carbon monoxide and hydrogen). FT is the most commercially proven technology available to convert syngas into a range of greener liquid fuels including renewable gasoline, renewable diesel and Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF).

The QUT facility is a Research and Development facility whose output will be similar to the sugar to ethanol process in terms of product i.e. bio-ethanol. This is in contrast to the Iro plant which will be able to make a broader range of greener liquid fuels including renewable gasoline, renewable diesel and Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF).

Each project uses a different chemical process to synthesise liquid fuels from sugar cane fibre. Iro uses proven Fischer Tropsch technology, others use liquid phase hydrolysis. We generate our own hydrogen during the process, other projects import it.

Led by the world’s transition to net zero carbon, the demand in Australia for renewable fuels is increasing significantly and the market, once mature, will consume billions of litres and require many producers.

FT is proven at commercial level for converting coal and natural gas to liquid fuels. Nearly 300 million litres of biomass fuels via FT reaction are expected by 2025, according to projects sanctioned around the world. Fulcrum BioEnergy’s Sierra Plant in Nevada started operation in 2021 using household waste to produce up to 41 million litres annually. Iro is leading the world in the production of biofuels from sugar cane fibre.

The current estimated project capital expenditure is $1.3 to 1.5 billion and construction is forecast to take three years. We believe first production could be achieved before 2025.

Iro will use a designated State Development Area in Gladstone for the construction of the project and has signed a gas supply agreement with emerging coal seam gas developer Comet Ridge. The company is currently seeking to secure feedstock agreements with sugar cane producers and millers, and offtake agreements with large transport fuel consumers in mining and aviation. Commercial negotiations are ongoing and positive on both fronts. The next stage in development is to conduct a Detailed Feasibility Study to fine-tune logistics, capital requirements, as well as design and construction components.

There will be significant opportunities for local businesses to participate. We estimate between 500 to 600 jobs will be created during the peak of the project’s construction. A permanent workforce of between 75 to 100 people will be needed to run operations.

A key advantage of Iro’s gasification and Fischer-Tropsch process is that it is able to process a wide variety of green feedstocks. The company has been engaging with a number of the regional agricultural bodies to understand the feedstock potential.

Iro’s friendlier fuels are lower density, higher energy and offer major environmental advantages compared to conventional fuels. They are cleaner burning, containing zero sulphur and aromatics compounds, and emit lower levels of nitrogen and carbon oxides during production. Iro fuels have 50 to 90% less greenhouse gas emissions than convention fuels.

The company’s production facility will be sited within an established industrial precinct in Gladstone to limit its environmental impacts as well as access skilled labour and a steady gas supply. Gladstone is also connected by established transport routes to sugar cane producers in Mackay to the north, and Bundaberg to the south.

Subject to the completion of a feasibility study, Iro is confident it can produce its friendlier biofuels at a price comparable to conventional fuels at a much lower cost to the planet.