May 2008

Phil Barlow joined Enecon as a principal engineer. Phil is a mechanical engineer with wide ranging experience in the forest, food and chemicals sectors gained over more than twenty years. Phil is experienced in design & project work, particularly with regard to materials handling systems and powders. We welcome Phil to the Enecon team.

September 2007 - Enecon recognised for Engineering Excellence

The winning team with their awards

Friday, 21st September: Enecon and Verve Energy were winners at the 2007 Engineers Australia Engineering Excellence Awards in Perth today. Enecon and Verve took out the awards for Best Environmental Project and also Best Project for Rural Communities. This is wonderful recognition of the innovation and hard work that has gone into the Integrated Wood Processing plant at the country town of Narrogin, WA over the past few years. See more details in the media release, which may be downloaded as a 24KB PDF file here.

August 2007 - Enecon MD presents to WA Bioenergy forum

Tuesday, 8th August: Colin Stucley of Enecon was a key speaker at a public forum to discuss bioenergy in the Avon catchment of Western Australia. The forum in York, WA included the WA Minister for Energy, the Hon. Francis Logan, as well as several other speakers experienced in bioenergy and tree cropping. Mr Stucley's presentation is available here (1.4MB PDF).

Enecon has recently completed a study of near term bioenergy options that could promote larger scale tree planting in the Avon. The report Bioenergy in the Avon, can be downloaded as a 1MB PDF.

Enecon gratefully acknowledges the efforts of Avongro Wheatbelt Tree Cropping and funding by the WA Sustainable Energy Development Office for this work.

May 2007 - Mallee moves to next phase

The integrated tree processing (ITP) project has moved into a new phase with Verve Energy (owners of Western Carbon Pty Ltd) calling for expressions of interest from private industry to assist with development of the next processing plant. Verve has prepared a detailed information memorandum that discusses work to date and plans for the future. This memorandum will be made available to organisations interested in and capable of collaboration on this exciting next phase for ITP. Please see here for more details.

December 2006 - Enecon moving to new address

Enecon have relocated to new, larger offices in Surrey Hills, Victoria. For details, click here (PDF 34k).

July 2006 - New name for Enecon Pyrolysis

Enecon Pyrolysis Pty Ltd has changed its name to Renewable Oil Corporation Pty Ltd. A new web site has been established at www.renoil.com.au.

July 2006 - Enecon signs licensing agreement with DynaMotive

Enecon Pyrolysis Pty Ltd has signed a Master Licence Agreement with DynaMotive Energy Systems Corporation, Vancouver, Canada, which will enable it to exploit opportunities for production of renewable liquid fuels using biomass feedstocks. Enecon Pyrolysis is one of the companies in the Enecon Group. For further information, click here. For further information about DynaMotive and their technology, click here.

June 2006 - Milestones at ITP plant

Western Australia's Minister for Energy, Francis Logan, announced the achievement of several milestones for Verve Energy's Integrated Tree Processing plant at Narrogin, WA. The plant was designed to Verve Energy's requirements by Enecon Pty Ltd, using technology licensed by Enecon from CSIRO. For details of the minister's announcement, click here. For further information on the project, click here.

August 2005 - Radio National Interview

Enecon's Managing Director, Colin Stucley was interviewed on ABC Radio National's Saturday Breakfast programme on 6th August 2005. The interview covered the background to, and the status of, the Narrogin Bioenergy Project. For a transcript of the interview, click here. For further information on the project, click here.

July 2005 - Commissioning of ITP plant

Commissioning of the Western Power Corporation Integrated Tree Processing Plant at Narrogin has begun and is expected to continue through various phases and optimisation for the remainder of 2005.

To view a photo of the plant in operation click here.

February 2004 - Bioenergy report published

Enecon was recently engaged by the Rural Industries R&D Corporation (RIRDC) and the Australian Greenhouse Office to prepare a wide-ranging report on bioenergy for Australia. Enecon led the report development and preparation, ably assisted by several other experts in forestry and bioenergy from Australia and New Zealand.

The report covers feed supply, technologies, costing and project development. It has a particular focus on new, short cycle tree crops, because of the other environmental and social benefits associated with planting short cycle tree crops in many parts of Australia.

An executive summary may be downloaded from the RIRDC website here. A condensed report has also been published. JVAP Research Update no. 7 is one of the series managed by RIRDC. A number of interesting related publications are also available at the RIRDC website.

January 2004 - Construction of ITP plant

As described elsewhere on this site, Enecon is working with Western Power Corporation to develop a full scale demonstration plant to showcase the concept of integrated tree processing. This demonstration plant will process whole mallee eucalypts grown to manage water and salinity on wheat-belt farms in south west Western Australia. The integrated processing concept allows for the production of renewable electricity, activated carbon and eucalyptus oil.

Enecon has undertaken detailed design for the plant at its Melbourne office. The plant itself is being built by Western Power near Narrogin, a country town two hours drive south east of Perth. Construction work is well advanced, with equipment installation currently underway. Commissioning is due to start mid year when the final critical path items are on site and installed.

To view the plant under construction click here.

May 2003 - Review of renewable energy legislation

The federal government has called for public submisions as part of a two year review of the Renewable Energy (Electricity) Act and its accompanying Regulations. Further details of the review process can be found at the MRET review website. Enecon has made a submission to the review panel, with particular emphasis on the need to modify the regulations so that wood from sustainably managed plantations, short rotation energy crops and new environmental tree plantings are clearly defined as eligible sources of fuel for Renewable Energy Certificates.

Enecon's submission may be downloaded as a pdf file Enecon submission to MRET Review.

Later note: the report by the review panel is scheduled for publication by 16 January 2004.

December 2002 - Wood to ethanol

Over recent years Enecon has been asked to undertake a number of assignments to look at particular aspects of ethanol and methanol as renewable transport fuels. One such assignment has been for the Rural Industries R&D Corporation. Enecon led an investigation of the potential for wood as feed for alcohol fuels in Australia, and considered costs and benefits from economic, social and environmental perspectives. These alcohol fuels appear to offer significant potential for the development of significant new tree plantings across areas of Australia that are prone to environmental problems such as salinity.

Our report for RIRDC has just been published, and may be downloaded from the RIRDC website: Wood for Alcohol Fuels. Alternatively, hard copies may be purchased directly from RIRDC.

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