Two of Australia’s largest beef processors are among the latest round of recipients of dollar-for-dollar carbon abatement project funding support from the Federal Government.

In project funding allocations announced on Friday under the Government Clean Technology Food and Foundries Investment Program, Teys Australia will receive a total of $7.2 million for three large carbon mitigation projects at its plants in Queensland and New South Wales.

T&R Pastoral will receive $3.25 million towards a large project at its Murray Bridge multi-species plant in South Australia.

Meat processing and related industries will receive a total of $11.7m in funding support in the latest grant allocations.

The types of emission reduction measures being deployed include replacing or modifying existing plant, equipment or processes; changing energy sources; and establishing new facilities or modifying current facilities to enable the production of new low-emissions products.

Processing and related industries receiving grants in the latest Clean Technology allocations include:

 

Cedar Meats (Aust) Pty Ltd

Brooklyn, Victoria based multi-species processor Cedar Meats received a grant of $212,512 towards an equipment replacement project worth a total of $425,000 to replace its boiler network with a new high-efficiency boiler and heat exchanger. The project is expected to reduce carbon emissions intensity of the plant’s boiler system by 35pc and result in savings of $60,000 in energy costs per year.

 

T&R (Murray Bridge) Pty Ltd      

T&R will receive $3.25 million towards a $9.744 million proposal involving four sub-projects as an overall carbon emissions reduction measure at its Murray Bridge facility. These will include:

• converting a single meal processing line into two higher-efficiency process streams
• replacing four natural gas fired boilers with two new fully automated boiler packages capable of burning natural gas and biogas
• replacing the current blood dryer with a more energy efficient blood dryer, and
• replacing the current odour burners with a bio-filter.

The project is expected to reduce the site-wide carbon emissions intensity of T & R's Murray Bridge facility by 29pc and result in savings of $1.1m in energy costs per year.

 

Teys Australia Beenleigh Pty Ltd               

Teys Beenleigh will receive $2.83m towards a total project worth $6m to install a 34ML covered anaerobic lagoon and receival basin to enable the capture of biogas for combustion on-site to offset natural gas consumption. The project is expected to reduce process-wide carbon emissions intensity at the Beenleigh facility by 85pc and result in savings of $1.3m in energy costs per year and savings of $380,000 in reduced carbon price liability each year.

 

Teys Australia Meat Group Pty Ltd

The Teys Lakes Creek facility near Rockhampton will receive $4.17m towards a project worth $8.75m to install two 30ML covered anaerobic lagoons and a receival basin to capture biogas for combustion on-site to offset black coal consumption. The project is expected to reduce process-wide carbon emissions intensity at the Rockhampton facility by 74pc and result in savings of $365,000 in energy costs per year and $890,000 in reduced carbon price liability each year.

 

Teys Australia Southern Pty Ltd (Wagga Wagga)               

Teys Southern will receive $227,000 towards a project worth $682,000 to improve the energy efficiency and performance of the refrigeration plant at the Wagga Wagga abattoir by adding variable head-pressure and condenser fan speed controls, compressor staging and capacity control, motor replacement and evaporator fan speed control.

The project is expected to reduce the site-wide carbon emissions intensity by 9pc and should result in annual savings of $365,000 in energy costs.

 

EC Throsby Pty Ltd      

Throsby’s will receive $38,663 towards an upgrade worth $116,000 to install a new high-efficiency burner and PLC to an existing water tube boiler at the export plant near Singleton, NSW. The project is expected to reduce carbon emissions intensity by 15pc and result in savings of $46,000 in energy costs per year.

 

D A Holdings Pty Ltd

Afflick Abattoirs near Moruya, NSW will receive $112,000 towards a project worth $223,000 to install solar panels and upgrade the plant’s refrigeration system.

The project is expected to reduce Afflick Abattoirs' site-wide carbon emissions intensity by 38pc and result in savings of $44,000 in energy costs per year.

 

Morlife Pty Ltd 

Queensland meat and smallgoods products manufacturer Morlife will receive $115,000 towards a $230,000 project to install a 15kW solar PV system and purchase new production machinery. The project is expected to reduce Morlife's site-wide carbon emissions intensity by 42pc and result in savings of $2000 in energy costs per year by installing a solar system.

 

Peerless Holdings Pty Ltd            

Victorian renderer and oil and fat manufacturer Peerless will receive $756,000 towards a project worth $2.27m replacing two boilers, upgrade the waste heat recovery units, insulate lagging pipe work, upgrading to energy-efficient lighting, installing a control system for a boiler, upgrading rendering condensers and modifying the refrigeration plant.

The project is expected to reduce site-wide carbon emissions intensity by 11pc and should result in savings of $600,000 in energy costs per year.

 

Prior to the latest round of allocations, the Federal Government earlier this month announced the allocation of $4.4 million towards a $9m carbon abatement project proposed for JBS Australia’s Dinmore abattoir in Southeast Queensland. See Beef Central’s earlier story “JBS offered $4.4m grant for Dinmore carbon abatement project” here.

Environment and Industry minister Greg Combet launched the Government’s Clean Technology Food and Foundries Investment Program a year ago as a central element of the Clean Energy Future plan, linked with the introduction of the carbon tax from July 1 last year.

The Clean Technology Food and Foundries Investment Program is a $200 million competitive, merit-based grants program to support food manufacturers to maintain competitiveness in a carbon-constrained economy.

The program provides grants for investments in energy-efficient capital equipment and low emission technologies, processes and products.