Transforming forestry residues into low carbon liquid fuels

OneFortyOne and HAMR Energy have entered into a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to collaborate on the supply of sustainable biomass for renewable methanol production in Australia and New Zealand.

The MoU marks a significant step forward in the development of HAMR Energy’s flagship Portland Renewable Fuels Project (PRF Project) in Victoria. The project will produce up to 300,000 tonnes per annum of renewable methanol, derived from forestry residue biomass and green hydrogen, which can be used to fuel planes and ships, helping decarbonise hard-to-abate transport.

The partnership aligns with the Australian Government’s Cleaner Fuels Program, announced earlier this week, which will provide A$1.1 billion to support the supply of low carbon liquid fuels (LCLF).

David Stribley, Co-Founder of HAMR Energy, said, “Our MoU with OneFortyOne is another important milestone as we continue to develop our pipeline of LCLF projects and finalise our Series A fundraise. We have MoUs in place to supply all the feedstock for the PRF Project, and recently completed Pre-FEED with global chemical design company ThyssenKrupp UHDE, positioning us to move quickly through the next phase of project development.

“We are looking forward to working with OneFortyOne, our other project partners, state and federal governments and offtakers so that locally-sourced forestry residues are soon fuelling Australian aviation and shipping.”

Under the MoU, OneFortyOne will work with HAMR Energy to supply biomass residues initially to the PRF Project, with the potential to then leverage the learnings into New Zealand, where OneFortyOne has forestry assets in the Nelson/Marlborough regions in the South Island. The parties will explore optimal biomass specifications and supply chain logistics with the intention to progress to long-term supply agreements in due course.

Nick Chan, Director of Corporate Strategy at OneFortyOne, said, “This is a pivotal moment for trans-Tasman forestry – we believe our industry is the logical partner in this LCLF space given the predictability and reliability we offer through scale and consistency of feedstock supply, year-round operations, and utilisation of well-established infrastructure and supply chains.”

“We are excited to explore how lower-value residues can be transformed into high-impact renewable fuels, supporting emissions reduction efforts in other industries like aviation and shipping.”

“We are happy to have entered this MoU with HAMR and, if successful, we will diversify our end market exposure while working towards decarbonising our supply chain, particularly Scope 3 transport emissions. This is another example of how we’re innovating across both Australia and New Zealand.”

Over the next 18–24 months, OneFortyOne will support HAMR’s development efforts, including supplying sample wood fibre for testing and in-field operational trials to refine feedstock assumptions, in addition to progressing supply agreements.

The partnership reflects a shared commitment to sustainability, regional economic development and innovation. It also reinforces OneFortyOne’s focus on reducing emissions across its operations, including Scope 3 emissions from forestry and export activities.

Nick added; “The announcement this week on LCLF by the Australian Government is very timely, we are pleased to see the ongoing commitment to reducing Australia’s carbon emissions. We look forward to collaborating with government, industry and research organisations as we explore carbon emission reduction options.”

Source & image credit: OneFortyOne