Press Release: Australian Farmers express strong interest in supplying ethanol
AUSTRALIAN FARMERS EXPRESS STRONG INTEREST IN SUPPLYING ETHANOL FOR CLEAN FUELS
June 21, 2001 BP today announced that it is working with some dozen potential ethanol suppliers who have responded to an invitation to supply ethanol from Australian renewable sources to its Bulwer Island refinery located in Brisbane. The joint BP and Federal Government initiative to explore the potential of ethanol-based fuel for Queensland's east-coast market was announced last month, and has the potential to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by about 1.1 million tonnes over 5 years. Dr George Nicolaides, general manager of BP's Bulwer Island refinery, said; "This is a very encouraging response and is potentially a very positive outcome for the environment and for Australian farmers." "BP is the first major oil company in Australia to move forward on an ethanol venture of this size and we are pleased to join with our Australian agricultural community to develop this opportunity. We also appreciate the Government's confidence in and support of our ability to produce cleaner fuels for Australia." Dr Nicolaides continued; "The ethanol project is very much aligned with BP's commitment to produce cleaner fuels wherever it can. Correctly blending ethanol with petrol offers the potential for a significant reduction in greenhouse gas emissions from vehicles, while at the same time introducing a new and sustainable market for Australian crop farmers." "Furthermore, ethanol also provides an environmentally friendly alternative to oxygen enhancing additives such as MTBE which has become so controversial in some world markets, such as the USA, due to concerns relating to water source contamination." BP will, over the next few weeks, evaluate the Expressions of Interest against environmental, commercial and quality criteria. If all areas of the criteria are met, test production could begin this year and if successful, ethanol-blended fuel could become widely available by 2003.
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