Cane’s Potential in Renewable Energy Mix Being Overlooked: Farm Industry Leader

Sugarcane fields pictured outside the Queensland town of Ayr in Australia on March 30, 2017. Peter Parks/AFP via Getty Images

BRISBANE, Australia—The lead representative for Queensland’s sugar cane industry has questioned whether the full cost of the net zero transition has been accounted for.

Russell Hall, president of the cane sector with Agforce—the state’s peak agriculture representative body—said the government was overly focused on wind and solar, but did not take into account the advantages of readily available natural resources.

“Yes, the concept of harnessing the wind and the sun sounds great,” Hall told the audience at the Royal International Convention Centre on Oct. 1.

“[Yet] no one can tell us the footprint of a panel, a blade, or the millions of tonnes of steel and concrete that goes into the foundations of a wind turbine, or the mining that goes into producing lithium, and aluminium to produce solar-powered battery farms.

“And I ask, what’s happening with the billion or trillion [in dollars] in solar panels in 20 years that will be dumped into landfill?”

Farmers Feeling Left Out

Hall also said he felt there was little engagement from political circles.

“Just recently, I was involved in a government renewables campaign promoting renewables in agriculture,” Hall said.

“I naively thought that this would open doors with levels of government for conversations on what cane could offer in the renewables space.

“I was bitterly disappointed that I never got that opportunity to meet with ministers after several attempts.”

He also said the major parties in Queensland should put food security as a priority in the lead-up to the October state election.

“Not one political leader through COVID-19 came out and thanked us, and the trucking fraternity, for delivering food every single day to the cities and while every city went into lockdown around the globe.”

Hall said that during the pandemic, the state of the environment actually improved while farming work was ongoing, suggesting that climate change has little to do with agricultural activity.

Yet, since the pandemic, Hall complained that subsequent policies had made things harder.

In September, farming groups gathered in front of Parliament House in Canberra to protest the planned phase-out of live sheep exports by 2028.

Speakers also pointed to a range of other issues besetting the industry including water buybacks under the Murray-Darling Basin Plan, increased biosecurity charges for farm exporters, restrictions on fertiliser use, regulation on fertiliser and chemical use, the increase of the minimum wage rate and superannuation, the ongoing push for plant-based meats, and the renewable push and its impact on farming land.

The ‘True Renewable’: Biomass

Hall said sugar cane could be a potential source of energy to power homes, cars, and a range of other matters.

The process of biomass involves burning organic material—like sugarcane—to generate heat or to be converted into other fuels for use.

“Cane, in my opinion, is the true renewable—with its huge biomass, it could fuel and power every small town and regional city up and down this whole coastline,” Hall said.

“It is 100 percent green and with low transmission costs, it’s a no-brainer for so many,” he added, noting it could create a new employment opportunity for younger generations.

Hall cited the example of major sugarcane mill, the Mossman Mill, which went into liquidation in March and could have become a “green powerhouse beside a rainforest.”