Industry Leader Introduces the new Low Carbon Liquid Fuels Roadmap
- jasonw05
- 4 days ago
- 7 min read
The Grains Research & Development Corporation, or GRDC, is Australia’s major grains sector research-and-development body. Its remit includes helping grain growers develop more profitable, resilient, and sustainable businesses – covering everything from crop genetics and agronomy to value‐chain innovation and market diversification.
In October 2025, GRDC released a landmark document: the Low-Carbon Liquid Fuels (LCLF) Roadmap. The Roadmap is a strategic blueprint focused on how the grains sector can participate in, and benefit from, the emerging global (and domestic) demand for low-carbon liquid fuels – and how Australia’s grain growers can build value beyond traditional markets.
For a company like ProGreen Biofuels – engaged in biodiesel and agribusiness consulting services – this Roadmap is highly relevant. It links crop production, oilseed and biomass feedstocks, fuel security, circular economy ideas and agribusiness innovation into the energy-transition agenda. Let’s walk through the key messages of the Roadmap, then highlight the elements especially relevant to stakeholders: circular economy, on-farm energy resilience, domestic fuel & food security, and improving existing agribusiness.
What the Roadmap Covers
Here are the headline elements of the LCLF Roadmap:
“Feedstock first” approach – GRDC emphasises that the next generation of low-carbon liquid fuels will require increased supply of agricultural feedstocks. The Roadmap positions grain growers as a key link in supplying those feedstocks.
Three development horizons – The Roadmap outlines three successive horizons for industry and research development:
Expanding oilseed cropping – increasing area and productivity of oilseed crops (e.g., canola), and revisiting alternative crops such as Brassica juncea and lupin.
Intensifying oil production – investing in crop breeding, seed technology and high-oil grain crops to raise oil content, thereby improving yield and sustainability of feedstocks.
Innovating with advanced biomass – exploring technologies to extract oil from crop residues or biomass, creating new revenue streams, reducing carbon intensity, and increasing supply beyond standard oilseed crops.
Domestic and global markets – The Roadmap emphasises that while the global market for LCLF is growing (strong demand especially for fuels in hard-to-electrify sectors such as aviation, marine, heavy transport), there is a clear opportunity for domestic supply and value capture in Australia.
Value-chain integration and scale – GRDC points out that feedstock supply alone isn’t enough; coordinated investment in agronomy, supply chains, crushing or oil extraction, storage, logistic links, and fuel-refining pathways is required.
Sustainability and carbon-intensity reduction – The Roadmap makes clear that low-carbon fuels are especially relevant in sectors where electrification is difficult, and that achieving low carbon intensity (CI) from feedstock through processing and transport will be critical.
Why It Matters for Agribusiness, Biodiesel & ProGreen
From the perspective of our work at ProGreen (biodiesel and agribusiness consulting), several threads in the Roadmap bear particular significance:
Circular economy and feedstock optimisation
The Roadmap’s advanced biomass horizon (horizon 3) emphasises using crop residues, biomass oils and waste streams as feedstocks. For example: “oil can be extracted from biomass and the residue used for feed, fuel or returned to the soil.” This is a core circular-economy idea: making best use of existing agronomic residues, avoiding waste, and capturing multiple value streams (grain + biomass + residue oil). For clients in biodiesel or feedstock supply, this opens new options:
expand beyond primary oilseed crops into residues or by-products;
integrate processing of residues into fuel supply chains;
enhance sustainability credentials (lower carbon intensity, better resource-use). It also means agribusiness advisers can help growers think about cropping systems not just for grain, but for energy/feedstock production, residue harvest or utilisation, and integration with on-farm energy systems.
Improving existing agribusiness and farm resilience
The Roadmap’s focus on intensification of oil production (horizon 2) and expanding oilseed cropping (horizon 1) means that conventional grain businesses have a chance to diversify. For growers and consultants that means:
Assess how existing cropping operations (for cereals, pulses, oilseeds) might shift or incorporate higher-oil crops, higher-yield varieties or novel species like juncea.
Consider agronomy and breeding innovation to raise oil content (improving returns per hectare).
Review crop rotations, farm logistics and supply-chain linkages so that feedstock for fuel is accessible and cost-efficient. ProGreen is well positioned to advise growers on how to adapt existing systems to serve the fuel feedstock market (not just the grain export market) – improving business resilience by tapping into new demand.
Domestic fuel and food security
One of the stronger messages in the Roadmap is the potential for domestic value capture and fuel security. For instance: the Roadmap states that increasing plant-oil feedstocks “could utilise surplus feedstock to support a future domestic LCLF industry.” Also: “Money that is otherwise paid to foreign petroleum supply chain participants could instead be redirected to support a strong internal Australian supply chain” for feedstock growers, logistics, processors and fuel distributors. For Australia’s agribusiness sector, this means the grains industry has more than just export-grain value: it can contribute to domestic energy supply, reduce dependence on imported fossil fuels, and support national fuel resilience.For ProGreen, this underpins the relevance of biodiesel feedstock pathways domestically and strengthens the case to clients: feedstock production for fuel isn’t just niche – it’s part of a broader national strategy.
On-farm energy resilience and national logistics
The Roadmap emphasises sectors that are hard to electrify – aviation, marine, mining and heavy transport, all vital sectors in the Australian economy – meaning there will be demand for drop-in low-carbon liquid fuels in those segments. From an agribusiness vantage point:
On-farm energy resilience can be enhanced if farms generate or supply feedstock for on-farm fuel production or bunk off locally sourced feedstock to supply Regional Fuel Hubs (REHs).
National logistics chains (transport, storage, processing) are implicated: the value-chain map in the Roadmap shows components from feedstock production, storage and handling, primary processing (crushing/milling), refining to LCLF, then distribution and end use. ProGreen has positioned itself to recommend to growers or feedstock suppliers how to link into these logistics chains – for example ensuring that feedstock cropping is physically near storage/processing infrastructure, or integrating arrangements that already exist for transport, handling and value-chain integration.
Key Takeaways
Opportunity is growing fast – Global decarbonisation, new Australian federal government mandates for low-carbon fuels and demand from sectors that can’t easily electrify mean feedstock demand is rising. The Roadmap notes that by 2030 more than 85 % of announced global LCLF production capacity is via the HEFA (Hydro-processed Esters and Fatty Acids) pathway using fats, oils and greases.
Grain growers can position themselves early – The “next oil boom will be on the farm, not under it” is the catch-phrase from GRDC. By getting involved in oilseed cropping, high-oil grains or biomass feedstocks today, growers can capture value as the supply chain scales.
Diversification and resilience – For existing grain businesses, moving into feedstock production (or integrating feedstock options) provides an additional income stream, spreads risk and aligns with sustainability expectations.
Circular economy and resource-efficiency matter – The Roadmap’s focus on biomass and residue feedstocks means there is value in utilising what might otherwise be under-used or wasted resources on-farm.
Local supply, national value – Developing domestic value chains means less dependence on exporting raw materials or importing refined fuels. Growers and regional businesses can capture (and integrate) more of the value-chain.
Infrastructure, logistics and supply-chain links are critical – It’s not just about growing the crop; storage, handling, processing, transport, refining and distribution must all be aligned. ProGreen, with over 15 years in the industry, is at the forefront of this research.
Sustainability and carbon intensity matter – For clients, the carbon intensity of feedstocks, processes and final fuel will increasingly matter (for markets, mandates, insurance and sustainability claims). Consulting advice should incorporate carbon-intensity metrics and sustainability systems.
Timing and horizon-thinking – The three horizons in the Roadmap suggest a phased progression: short-term (expand oilseed cropping), medium-term (intensify oil production), longer-term (innovate biomass feedstocks). Growers and advisers can map their own plans accordingly.
How ProGreen Can Leverage This Roadmap
ProGreen is well positioned to advise and connect stakeholders with the following capacities:
Feedstock audit: Work with growers to audit existing oilseed and residue streams on-farm (canola, juncea, lupin, cereal residues) to assess their potential as feedstock for low-carbon fuels.
Crop strategy review: Advise on whether shifting or adding oilseed crops (or high-oil varieties) makes sense in the cropping rotation, given soil, climate, markets and logistics.
Residue utilisation: Explore opportunities for using crop residues or biomass for oil extraction or co-products (which links to the circular economy concept).
Supply-chain mapping: Map local/regional storage, handling, transport and processing infrastructure (or gaps) to connect growers with feedstock-to-fuel value chains.
Carbon intensity and sustainability credentials: Assist clients in measuring or estimating their feedstock-to-fuel carbon intensity (CI) and help position their product or business proposition to meet future low-carbon fuel standards.
Domestic fuel security narrative: Frame proposals to growers, agribusiness clients, sponsors and government around national fuel security, domestic value capture and resilience – not just export markets.
On-farm energy and logistics integration: Suggest models where farms generate or supply their own feedstock for on-farm fuel production (for machinery, transport) or supply local logistics hubs using the REH model– enhancing resilience and capturing value locally.
Conclusion
The GRDC’s Low-Carbon Liquid Fuels Roadmap is a timely and strategic document that aligns very directly with ProGreen’s focus on biodiesel, agribusiness consulting and on-farm energy systems. It provides a clear signal that the grains sector has an opportunity – indeed a role – in supplying low-carbon fuel feedstocks, diversifying income streams, enhancing sustainability and contributing to domestic fuel and food security.
For growers and agribusiness clients, the message is: now is the time to plan. The pathways are emerging and the infrastructure, research and policy environment are aligning. ProGreen is well-positioned to advise clients on readiness: crop strategy, residue utilisation, supply-chain linkage, carbon credentials, infrastructure and business diversification.
DISCLAIMER: The information presented in this blog does not necessarily reflect the views or opinions of ProGreen Biofuels, its affiliates or the industry at large. The above is not intended to be taken as professional or investment advice. Readers are advised to consult the source document and inform themselves of industry matters and policies before acting on any information presented herein.
