Timber Towns Victoria, Media Release, 23 September 2025

The Albanese government’s new $1.1 billion Cleaner Fuels Program could transform the Green Triangle into a powerhouse for low-carbon liquid fuels, with energy innovators like HAMR Energy lining up to turn plantation and wood-processing residues into feedstock for renewable diesel, methanol and sustainable aviation fuel (SAF).

“This funding initiative is an exciting new opportunity for the forestry sector,” according to Cr Karen Stephens, president of Timber Towns Victoria and Mayor of Glenelg Shire Council, “ultimately using the whole of the tree and turning what would have been wasted wood fibre into a valuable low-carbon resource for use in other industries.”

According to David Stribley, co-founder of HAMR Energy, the injection of funding is “the missing piece of the puzzle” for building a viable SAF industry in Australia, who believes incentives will help to scale production, meeting both domestic demand and incoming international mandates.

It comes as HAMR Energy is already working alongside forestry partners on the Portland Renewables Fuels project in Victoria. Backed by $1.8 billion in investment, the facility will convert wood residues and green hydrogen into 300,000 tonnes of low-carbon methanol each year, creating hundreds of construction jobs and a steady market for byproducts from Victoria’s timber towns along the west coast.

Andrew White, CEO of Victoria’s Forest Products Association, said plantations can underpin a future biofuel economy: “Plantation wood fibre residues and byproducts that might otherwise go to waste will be transformed into renewable low-carbon fuels – helping to decarbonise heavy transport, shipping and aviation,” he said.

“Victoria’s plantation timber industry is poised to provide significant volumes of wood residues as feedstock, which will generate new income streams for growers and processors, and support new jobs in low-carbon fuel manufacturing in regional Victoria.”

Federal backing: $1.1 billion to kickstart cleaner fuels

On the new program, Jim Chalmers, Australian Treasurer, said, “This is all about helping to maximise the economic and industrial benefits of the shift to clean energy and net zero. Developing this industry has the potential to make us an integral part of growing global net-zero supply chains. From the farm to the refinery, from primary production to processing, this will create more jobs and more opportunities for Australian workers and businesses.”

Meanwhile, Climate Change and Energy Minister Chris Bowen highlighted why domestic production matters most. “Making cleaner fuels here, from Australian feedstocks, creates the path for emissions reduction in sectors that are hardest to clean up, like plane travel and construction machines.” He notes that over 2 billion litres of production projects are already in the pipeline, ready to scale. Acting Infrastructure Minister Murray Watt says the opportunity is enormous. “Low carbon fuels have the potential to be a $36 billion industry here in Australia, and we have the chance to lead the way on the production of these new fuels.”

And for regional communities, Agriculture Minister Julie Collins promises a win-win. “Producing more low-carbon liquid fuels right here in Australia won’t just boost our fuel security and emissions reduction, it will support Australian farmers, foresters and our regions. Our farmers and foresters have always been innovators, and our government is putting their expertise and world-class production practices at the centre of growing Australia’s low-carbon liquid fuel industry.”