Caltex’s magazine for employees, franchisees & resellers
Issue 40 Dec – Jan 08
Biofuels, the choice of the future
Harvest time at a sugar plantation. Molasses from sugar production is one of the feedstocks for the ethanol Caltex uses in its Bio E10 Unleaded biofuel blend.
Biofuels, the choice of the future
Caltex service station, January 2030. “Fill ‘er up please." (Robot attendant approaches vehicle.) “Yes, sir. Will that be E10, E85, E100, B2, B5, B20, B100, ULP, PULP, SPULP, LPG, NGV, GTL diesel or hydrogen – or shall I plug it in to the power point?"
Does Australian oil refining really matter?
Does Australia really need to produce its own fuel products? Or is the oil refining industry just another marginal manufacturing enterprise that could move offshore in the face of global change?
Outstanding teachers take centre stage
Bill Dorman is a big man with a big personality who's hard to miss. His email address starts with the name “Redbeard".
If it's not safe, tell your mates
One day, Charlie Morecraft drove up to a piping manifold at his Exxon refinery in the US and “swung a blind" in the line (isolated it), taking a short cut in the proper procedure to save time and effort.
From the Managing Director
Biofuels are a growing part of Caltex's fuel business. We have the largest network of sites selling biofuels in Australia and it is expanding every month.
Our main biofuels products are Bio E10 Unleaded which is petrol blended with ten per cent ethanol and New Generation Diesel, diesel blended with two per cent biodiesel.
This issue of The Star gives an overview of Caltex biofuels activities and explores some of the issues facing the biofuels industry.
Caltex is committed to the development of a biofuels industry that is commercially and environmentally sustainable. To succeed it must be consumer driven, with products of the highest standard, reliable supply of biofuels and competitive prices.
While biofuels sales volumes are growing rapidly, biofuels is still a fledgling industry with a lot of work to be done. Caltex is investing in upgrading our terminals to handle biofuels and working with ethanol and biodiesel suppliers to ensure we have continuity of supply. We are also informing our retail and commercial customers about biofuels and promoting the use of these new generation fuels.
It makes good business to invest in biofuels because consumers want to buy these products to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and reliance on fossil fuels. Caltex is also responding to government policies and regulations to increase biofuels sales.
Our employees, franchisees and resellers support making biofuels part of our product mix. Caltex franchisee Todd Stewart in Queensland who is selling our ten per cent ethanol blended petrol speaks for many when he says: “Every bit we can do as consumers contributes towards our planet's future."
The question of whether Australia really needs to produce its own fuel products or whether the oil refining industry is just another marginal manufacturing enterprise that could move offshore in the face of global change is addressed on page 8. It's an important issue for Caltex.
Finally I'd like to wish all Caltex employees, contractors, franchisees, resellers and the many other readers of The Star all the very best good wishes for a safe and happy holiday season.
Des King