Bold energy plan from eucalyptus oilBy MAL GILL

KALANNIE potentially couldbecome a showpiece for a nationalenergy plan under a proposal byKochii Australian Eucalyptus Oil torepower the Wheatbelt town byburning oil mallee biomass wastefrom its distillation operation there.

A microgrid proposal to repowerKalannie was announced to 140guests at Kochii AustralianEucalyptus Oil’s first open day andfield walk last Friday, a day after theFederal government announced $1.9billion of investment in emergingenergy and emissions reduction tech-nology.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison onThursday announced the govern-ment’s energy plan for the future wasto unlock new technologies “to helpdrive down costs, create jobs,improve reliability and reduce emis-sions”.

Some $67 million of the invest-ment will support development ofnew electricity microgrids in regionaland remote communities, MrMorrison announced.

On Friday Kochii chief executiveofficer Steve Meerwald said the com-pany’s aim was to use spent biomass –a by-product of planned increasedeucalyptus oil production at Kalannie– to provide cheap, sustainable andreliable electricity for a microgrid topower the town.

It would be a standalone genera-tion plant able to be replicated atother Wheatbelt towns at the end ofthe State grid where there was unreli-able power and a ready source of bio-mass as fuel, Mr Meerwald explained.

Oil production had already provid-ed employment, some of it part-time,for 15 people in Kalannie – jobs thatotherwise would not have been there– and Kochii’s plans to expand intopower generation and environmentalproducts would create new jobopportunities, he pointed out.

Mr Morrison announced an extra$1.62b would be provided as part ofthe Federal government’s energy planto enable the Australian RenewableEnergy Agency and the Clean EnergyFinance Corporation to support newtechnologies that will reduce emis-sions in manufacturing, agricultureand transport.

As well, Mr Morrison announcedproposed changes to the EmissionsReduction Fund to halve the time ittakes and to involve industry in a co-design process to develop approvedmethodology for projects.

A $50m investment in carbon cap-ture projects through the CarbonCapture Use and StorageDevelopment Fund to help cut emis-sions, was also announced by Mr

Morrison as part of his government’senergy plan.

Mr Meerwald and Ian Stanley – aKochii Australian Eucalyptus Oildirector and third-generation farmerfrom a Kalannie Kochii Eucalyptuspioneering family – told guestsKochii had a co-operative arrange-ment with Rainbow Bee Eater, acompany developing pyrolysis (low-oxygen combustion) technology.

Mr Stanley is also a director ofRainbow Bee Eater and Kochii’s oildistillery furnace on a corner of theStanley farm at Kalannie has been thetest bed for some of Rainbow BeeEater’s technology.

A successful pilot trial inTantanoola, South Australia, sup-ported by State government agenciesthere, proved commercial applicationof the pyrolysis process.

Rainbow Bee Eater pyrolysisequipment, using shredded wastetimber as fuel, produced syngas tooperate, heat and supply a carbondioxide-enriched atmosphere formassive commercial hydroponic fruitand vegetable production greenhous-es.

Holla-Fresh Herbs and Green

Industries SA have since purchasedthe technology and are selling abiochar byproduct from the pyrolysis

running the greenhouses to a MtGambier landscaping supplies andgarden products company.

Mr Meerwald and Mr Stanley toldKochii guests a similar pilot pyrolysisplant to produce biochar and wood

❐ Kochii Eucalyptus Oil's director and local farmer Ian Stanley (left) chief executive officer Steve Meerwald, manager Mike Walter and manager forestry,science and compliance Dan Wildy at a harvest site on the McCreery family farm at Kalannie.

WEEKLY NEWS20 Farm Weekly Thursday, September 24, 2020

❐ Ian Stanley (left) and harvest manager Mike Kerkmans in the distillation room where steam and eucalyptus oil arecondensed and separated and the oil syphoned off.

TA5668727

vinegar would be commissioned inKalannie next month or inNovember “to prove the market forthese products”.

But for COVID-19 delaying deliv-ery of some Rainbow Bee Eater partsfrom Melbourne, the plant wouldhave been operating, Mr Stanley said.

Biochar is charcoal comprisingmainly carbon and recognised as asoil amendment for both soil healthbenefits and for carbon sequestration– capturing carbon dioxide out of theatmosphere and storing it awayunderground.

Wood vinegar, or pyroligneousacid, is used as a natural liquid fer-tiliser for improved seed germinationand plant growth.

“Both are environment enhancingproducts with financial and socialbenefits to the community,” MrMeerwald said.

He explained that Kochii’s euca-lyptus oil production had grownexponentially from 185 kilograms in2015 to 92.7 tonnes in the currentyear.

“We’ve achieved average growth inproduction in the last three years of112 per cent,” he said.

Kochii is continuing to developinternational markets, he said, with720kg of Kochii eucalyptus oil on itsway to the USA for a Novemberproduct launch there.

As well, the company has under-taken organic certification for itsNewland farm with more than onemillion oil mallee trees on 1200hectares at North Bodallin.

“By mid 2021 we will be produc-ing certified organic eucalyptus oiland have organic biomass to produceorganic biochar and wood vinegar,”Mr Meerwald said.

But once green foliage from thetrees was steamed to extract oil, onlya tiny fraction of the spent biomass isneeded to fire the boiler and Kochii

already has a small mountain of spentbiomass at its production site.

Hence its progress towards devel-oping markets for the natural syngas,biochar and wood vinegar byprod-ucts of the pyrolysis process, incredi-bly with its timing seeming to dove-tail with the Federal government’senergy plan and investments.

The pilot plant about to be com-missioned will produce 2000t ofbiochar and 900t of wood vinegar ayear to test markets, Mr Meerwaldsaid.

“Once they are proved, stage threeis larger, more sophisticated pyrolysisplants and a further multi-million-dollar investment including renew-able base-load power generation,” hesaid.

“Kalannie will be the capital ofAustralian eucalyptus oil production,plus consuming 9400t of biomass toproduce some 6000t of char, 4000tof wood vinegar and 31,000 mega-joules of syngas to generate 600 kilo-watts of base load electricity.

“The end game is 400-600t ofhigh-grade eucalyptus oil (a year),20,000t of biochar, 12,000t of woodvinegar, 2mw of base-load renewableenergy and an annual carbon savingof in excess of 30,000t of environ-mental carbon dioxide.

“This all relies on these remarkablelittle trees that thrive in our harshAussie climate and the farmers whohad the vision to plant and care forthem.”

Mr Stanley told visitors his fatherDon, a former forester, had been thedriver behind farmers across theWheatbelt, planting the hardy nativespecies Eucalyptus kochii from themid 1990s, initially to help controlrising salinity and to hold fragile top-soils together, but also as one of thebest eucalypt varieties for oil.

It was recognised from the start acommercial product derived from the

trees was needed to cover the cost ofpropagating and planting them, hesaid.

Kalannie Distillers was created bysix local families, the Nixons,Stanleys, Waters, Rolinsons,Millsteeds and Hudsons, sittingaround the Nixon family’s diningtable one night, with representativesfrom five of those families in atten-dance on Friday.

Ultimately Kalannie Distillers waspurchased by Kochii AustralianEucalyptus Oil in 2015 which con-tinues the original aim of establishingcopses of trees on farms that can beregularly harvested for oil and othercommercial products to help theenvironment and the trees regrowagain after harvest to complete a “sus-tainable circle”, Mr Stanley said.

❐ Jason Uyen (left) and Reece Ward at the hopper which feeds some of thespent dried biomass from previous distillations into a furnace that turns waterin a tank above it into steam to be pumped through a shipping containerpacked with green eucalyptus biomass to extract the oil.

WEEKLY NEWS Farm Weekly Thursday, September 24, 2020 21

❐ Representatives of five of the original six Kalannie families which founded Kalannie Distillers – that later becameKochii Australian Eucalyptus Oil – in front of the mountain of biomass that the company plans to use to generateelectricity and produce biochar and wood vinegar. Pictured are Helen and Rob Millsteed (left), Robyn and IanStanley, Elva Rolinson, Angela and Mark Waters and Helen and Robert Nixon.

TO AVOID DISAPPOINTMENT ORDERNOW TO SECURE DELIVERY

Call Grant Borgward0428 816 701

• Super deep ripper! Rips down to 60cm (24 inches)• One pass opera�on to super deep rip, mix clay and incorporate

lime that also packs the surface for an excellent seed bed.• The most economical way to transform poor to average

sandplain into highly produc�ve country in one pass!• Medium to heavy country is also responding with great results!

• Special aggressive A-discs, produce the best stubble cu�ngand mixing ac�on.

• Excellent for incorpora�ng lime and stubble at depth andlevelling the paddock.

• Kills weeds and leaves an impressive seedbed with themoisture locked in by the V-ring packer!

Terraland TO 6000 Swi�erDisc XE 12400

powerace.tradefarmmachinery.com.au

5669696

BUSH TELEGRAPH

THE population of Wheatbelt townKalannie was almost doubled on

Friday with an influx of visitors forthe first Kochii Eucalyptus Oil open

day and field walk.More than 140 people – many droveup from Perth – and others came infrom surrounding farming areas –

accepted invitations to inspect Kochiieucalyptus oil mallee trees being har-vested and regrowth after harvest ofeucalyptus polybractea trees on theMcCreery family farm just out of

town. The visitors then moved on tothe Stanley family farm at the otherend of town to inspect Kochii’s euca-lyptus oil distillery and hear about itsambitious plans for continued expan-

sion of oil production and to use amountain of spent kochii biomass

from that production to generate elec-tricity for the town, as well as pro-

duce biochar, syngas and woodvinegar products.

MAL GILL attended forFarm Weekly.

42 Farm Weekly Thursday, September 24, 2020

Eucalyptus oil open day draws a crowd

❐ Jonathan Bloch (left), ANZ Bank head of strategic banking, Dr RickiHewitt, Management Projects, professor Richard Harper, MurdochUniversity School of Veterinary and Life Sciences' agricultural sciencesdivision (rear), Simon Dawkins, Oil Mallee Association of Australiadirector and Anthony Fels, agribusiness transaction services seniormanager for Colliers International.

❐ Nick Priest (left), Bonnie Rock and Kochii Eucalyptus Oil's managerforestry, science and compliance Dan Wildy. Mr Priest has eucalyptustrees on his farm that were planted about 2010, harvested three yearsago for oil and are now ready to be reharvested.

❐ Maud Eijkenboom from natural pain relief marketer Better Nature,Andrew Barker from RSM Australia and Ian Wildy, Mungalup.

❐ Perth visitors Robyn (left) and Wayne Loxley with Jan Walters.

❐ Beacon friends Marian Kirby (left), who haseucalyptus trees ready for harvest and FayeClark, whose trees have been harvested byKochii Eucalyptus Oil.

❐ Former Elders New Zealand national manager Ron Eacott (left),Toodyay, David Johnston, RSM Australia, Michael Adamson, Liftrite,Emilie Bell from essential oils marketer doTERRA and Brittany Pettitt, RSMAustralia.

❐ Beacon farmers with eucalyptus trees ontheir properties, Bill Clark (left) and Brian Kirby.

❐ RIGHT: Retired Gnowangerup farmer Rod House (left), with DanielDowsett and Neil McKinnon who drove up from Perth.

❐ Dale Ure (left), Harmony Agriculture and Food Company's localWestbeef feedlot business manager, Garry Robinson, Harmony'swestern operations manager and Justin Wolfgang, co-founder ofRegenWA.

2005 Lower DenmarkRoad, Torbay

08 9845 113208 9845 129708 9845 1231

sales@wilsonwa.com.auwilsonwa.com.auM-F 8-5 Sat: 8.30-noon

Manufacturing quality farmmachinery on site, from

slashers to rippers, grader blades & custom made machines

Genuine & non-genuine parts, oils, implements & attachments

Acres of second hand agricultural machinery & parts

TA5669537