- Title
- Finding a place for organic waste-to-energy in Australian agribusiness
- Creator
- Hurley, Craig
- Date
- 2023
- Type
- Text; Thesis; PhD
- Identifier
- http://researchonline.federation.edu.au/vital/access/HandleResolver/1959.17/199462
- Identifier
- vital:19215
- Abstract
- This thesis seeks to understand Australian agribusiness engagement with approaches to generate energy from organic waste materials. Applications of modern bioenergy technologies, utilising agriculture residues to produce electrical, thermal and transport energy, have been well established in many parts of the world. There has been enthusiasm for bioenergy from agriculture to make a substantial contribution to Australia’s energy mix, but the agriculture sector, like Australia more generally, has been slow to transition to bioenergy technologies. Adopting the pragmatism research philosophy, this study applies the Multi-Level Perspective and Social Practice Approach frameworks to explore Australian agribusiness engagement with bioenergy systems, to produce energy from organic waste. A multi-methods qualitative research methodology is used to analyse the adoption of organic waste-to-energy approaches by Australian agribusiness, and to identify the critical drivers and barriers impacting these transitions. Except for sugar processors, Australian agribusiness adoption of organic waste-to-energy approaches is in its very early stages. The main drivers prompting agribusinesses to explore their organic waste-to-energy options are, agribusinesses experiencing problems with the cost and/or quality of their energy supplies, and/or problems with the social acceptance of their existing organic waste management practices. The main barriers to agribusinesses making the transition to bioenergy technologies, include financial factors such as the high capital costs of bioenergy plants and low returns on investment. Other barriers include a low level of awareness and understanding of bioenergy approaches in the agriculture industry, and in Australia more broadly, and a lack of consultative expertise to develop and service bioenergy systems. For organic waste-to-energy to play a more substantial role in Australian agriculture, support is needed to overcome critical barriers. This study finds policy and support mechanisms are required to encourage greater collaboration of small-scale agribusinesses and other relevant stakeholders. Investment is also needed to increase Australia’s awareness and understanding of organic waste-to-energy approaches, and to build the consultative expertise and skills-base to support the development of bioenergy systems.; Doctor of Philiosophy
- Publisher
- Federation University Australia
- Rights
- All metadata describing materials held in, or linked to, the repository is freely available under a CC0 licence
- Rights
- Copyright Craig Hurley
- Rights
- Open Access
- Subject
- Sustainability transitions; MLP; Multilevel perspective; SPA; Social practice approach; Bioenergy; Organic waste-to-energy; Agriculture; Waste management; Drivers; Barriers; Australia
- Full Text
- Thesis Supervisor
- Courvisanos, Jerry
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- Visitors: 66
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| Thumbnail | File | Description | Size | Format | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| View Details Download | SOURCE2 | Australian Digital Thesis | 4 MB | Adobe Acrobat PDF | View Details Download |