SUPPLY CHAIN TECHNOLOGYz ENERGY DECISIONS MADE EASY Anew online tool is Assessing your options Gareth said Australian liquid fuel prices, making it easier for The free‑to‑use tool has pre‑loaded such as petrol, diesel, LPG and LNG, red meat producers to scenarios for typical operations are tied to global markets and have an calculate energy costs presented as the default, so producers unpredictable but increasing trend. and weigh up the benefits of can enter no data at all and get a feel “Currently more than 90% of liquid fuel renewable, proven technologies for the cost outlay and payback for the is imported. As soon as 2030, Australia for their businesses. most viable options. could be effectively importing all of its Alternatively, producers can enter data petrol, diesel and LPG,” he said. The Energy Cost Saver, available at for their specific facility or farm, such as myenergy.tech, has been developed “Relying on imported fuels and energy current pump kilowatt ratings and hours sources exposed to international by engineering firm All Energy Pty Ltd of pumping per day, and current power with funding from MLA Donor Company, markets is an inherent business source or cost per kilowatt hour. continuity risk. and aims to make producers more ‘energy literate’. For farm vehicles, producers can enter “The Energy Cost Saver tool provides kilometres travelled per day, the vehicleoptions for de‑coupling the red meat MLA’s Manager of Supply Chain type and fuel price in dollars per litre to Sustainability Innovation, Doug supply chain from imported and determineenergy efficiencies. internationally traded fuels.” ■ McNicholl, said the tool is about saving operating costs for producers, and Knowledge gap delivering improved energy security All Energy Principal Engineer, Gareth Doug McNicholl and reduced emissions. This ties in Forde, said costs are more extreme in E: dmcnicholl@mla.com.au with the red meat industry’s goal to be rural areas. Gareth Forde carbon neutral by 2030. “One aim of the tool is for people to E: gareth@allenergypl.com.au “Beef and lamb production, lot feeding, become more ‘energy literate’. By that myenergy.tech and red meat processing, excluding the I mean, you probably know how many cold chain, spends an estimated $1.6 dollars you pay per litre of fuel, but how billion/year on energy,” Doug said. much are you paying for your power in Did you know? “Energy prices are a significant and cents per kWh?” Gareth said. Australian Bureau of Statistics rising cost for all operations along the“Do you also know your additional data shows that in the past two supply chain – and having the time and access and demand charges for grid years, power prices are up 14.5%, know‑how to weigh up options like power or the maintenance costs for with natural gas up 11.2%, against solar pumping or electric farm vehicles diesel generators? For feedlots and an economy‑wide Consumer can be a challenge. processors, do you know how many Price Index (CPI) increase of 3.7%. “Using the Energy Cost Saver dollars you are paying per gigajoule Power went up 3.9 times the rate takes the guesswork out of these (GJ) for boiler fuel and what the cheaper of CPI and this is not an anomaly: business decisions.” options are? The myenergy.tech over 10 years, CPI is up 23% website gives you a starting point for compared to power at 110%. this information.” 38