One of the purported benefits of implementing a carbon tax or an emissions trading scheme is that it will, over time, transition the economy away from dirtier sources of energy towards cleaner sources by better aligning firms’ goal of profit maximisation with the Government’s goal of lowering Australia’s carbon footprint.
Today, we received an early indication of the gradual change in Australia’s energy mix resulting from the carbon tax with NSW’s largest power generator, Macquarie Generation, moving into the production of biofuels from algae in what is being labelled a world first. From the AFR:
ASX-listed Algae.Tec said on Tuesday it inked a deal with MacGen to site an algae carbon capture and biofuels plant alongside the Bayswater coal-fired power plant in the Hunter Valley.
Waste carbon dioxide from the huge 2640-megawatt generator will be feed into an enclosed algae growth system for conversion into algal oil that is then processed into “green” diesel and grade A jet fuel.
MacGen chief executive Russell Skelton said the venture would improve both the plant’s environmental and economic performance given carbon is now the plant’s single largest cost.
“This technology should reduce our carbon output, reduce our carbon bill, and at the same time improve our bottom line.”
