Apparently the ethanol industry is not doing as well in Australia as it is here in the U.S., according to this story from the ABC Rural Network. (That’s ABC as in AUSTRALIAN Broadcast Company) The reason is that major oil companies have yet to sign contracts to meet future target production goals and officials with the Australian Biofuels Association are concerned. That group is apparently having trouble with their website as well – at least at the time of this post – but I provided the link anyway assuming it will be corrected at some point.
Just a note about the ABC in Australia – I had the pleasure of meeting one of their reporters last year when I attended the International Federation of Ag Journalists (IFAJ) meeting in Switzerland. Her name is Alice Plate and it was very interesting hearing about the support that farm radio has in Australia – much more so than here in the US of A. In fact, the network’s flagship program, the Country Hour, is officially recognised by the Guinness Book of Records, as being Australia’s longest running radio program, celebrating 60 years of Rural broadcasting in 2005. Read all about it’s history here.