Gladstone Region Mayor Matt Burnett today welcomed news US company Mercurius will be proceeding with a pilot plant biorefinery in the Central Queensland city.

Mercurius has commenced detailed design of the pilot biorefinery and will begin construction in months after securing State Government funds.

The pilot plant will be the trial site for jet fuel and diesel production from agricultural and forestry waste.

“We have met with Mercurius many times, encouraging them to expand their energy portfolio to our region,” Cr Burnett said.

The Mercurius pilot biorefinery will be co-located on the Northern Oil Refinery at Yarwun.

It is expected to employ about 30 people during its three-month operational period.

Mercurius then plans to build a larger demonstration plant, which would scale up production of biofuels and bio-chemicals.

State Development, Manufacturing, Infrastructure and Planning Minister Cameron Dick said Mercurius’ world-leading biotechnology would bring Queensland a step closer to achieving a $1 billion biofutures industry by 2026.