Councillor Richard Foley says he would like to see Wagga Wagga City Council invest in biofuels as a means to prevent future fuel shortages. Photo: Chris Roe.
Wagga councillor Richard Foley has suggested NSW should produce biofuels to help prevent future fuel shortages across the country.
With diesel prices now soaring above $3 a litre in many parts of the Riverina due to the ongoing conflict in the Middle East, Cr Foley said he believes the time is now to start focusing on biofuels created from canola and oilseed crops.
Cr Foley presented the idea to Wagga Wagga City Council (WWCC) earlier this week, and spoke about the importance of liquid fuel security and the potential role the Riverina might play in supporting domestic renewable fuel production.
As a result of Cr Foley’s notion, which was supported by his fellow councillors, WWCC’s general manager Peter Thompson will raise the matter with the Canberra Joint Organisation and Regional Cities NSW as a matter of strategic importance, and seek support for those organisations to investigate the feasibility of a collaborative approach towards renewable fuel production.
Cr Foley said many other countries around the world had invested in biofuels and liquid diesel, and Australia should follow suit.
“It’s effectively using canola and relevant oilseed crops and investigating the feasibility of that to make liquid diesel and potentially aviation fuels as well,” he said.
“It’s been around since the early 2000s. It’s been in practice around other parts of the world, including United States, in Asia and elsewhere.
“Others may have different opinions, but we have the industrial precincts, and we have all the feedstock.
“If the Federal Government got behind this or found a private partner, Wagga Council could be an equity holder in it, which would give benefits to the ratepayers and provide liquid fuels for council’s vehicles at wholesale price.”
Cr Foley said the responsibility for maintaining fuel supply and security had become a matter that all local governments should explore, with a focus now looking beyond just roads, rates and rubbish.
“The adage that councillors should only focus on roads, rates and rubbish is a relic of the past, despite what some people might believe,” he said.
“This is a way that this community as a whole could fortify self-sufficiency, and it wouldn’t matter what happened outside of this LGA.
“We’d have so much fuel, we’d be able to pass it on down the rail line and via the trucking routes into the cities or other areas that needed it and provide our own fuels directly into the local service stations.
“It’s a no-brainer in my eyes.”
