Surrey Hills in north-west Tasmania is best known for its plantation forests, but could soon become crucial to one of the world's best-known vehicle manufacturers.
Porsche-backed HIF Global has lodged plans with Tasmania's Environment Protection Authority to build Australia's first commercial-scale e-fuel facility in the area, about 30 kilometres from Burnie.
It plans to begin construction in 2024 and operation in 2026.
What exactly are e-fuels?
Porsche plans for 80 per cent of its cars to be electric by the end of the decade, but is working with industrial manufacturing company Siemens to make a synthetic fuel to power those that will still run on liquid fuels.
There are a few different types of renewable liquid fuel: hydrogen — which Porsche says will not deliver a lightweight, powerful car — and e-fuels.
The "e" is at the front because renewable electricity is used to create the fuel.
It uses renewable energy to create green hydrogen through a process called electrolysis, which separates the hydrogen from the oxygen in water in a unit called an electrolyser.
HIF says that unit will have a 250-megawatt capacity.
It's then combined with carbon dioxide in a reactor to produce e-fuel through a process called synthesis.
HIF says further processing can be used to produce LPG, as well as specialised fuel to power road transport and aeroplanes.
Is it really green?
For environmentalists, it might not be the ideal solution, but it's far better than what's currently powering our vehicles.
Climate Council senior researcher Tim Baxter says ideally all cars would be electrified, but there are situations where that isn't feasible, with hydrogen and e-fuels looming as possible alternatives.
"For Porsche, moving into Burnie … what they're looking at is something for their consumers who really want the old-school Porsches running as a Porsche does. They need to find some alternative to petrol fuel and e-fuels are an alternative there," he says.
"You're talking about renewable energy being mixed with carbon dioxide to make the same sorts of chemicals that you have in fuel.
"It's a very inefficient way of doing it, but for those places where either people want to be still running on liquid fuels, or it's too difficult to be running on electricity or batteries, it's a really good solution."
How much e-fuel will the plant produce?
HIF Asia Pacific chief executive Ignacio Hernandez says it will produce up to 100 million litres of e-fuel each year at full operation.
Mr Hernandez says that would reduce global carbon dioxide levels by about 260,000 tonnes a year, the equivalent of decarbonising 52,000 cars.
HIF Global says the facility will be designed similar to other planned facilities in Chile and the United States.
The company plans for it to be emissions-free, and expects the water it uses for electrolysis to be largely extracted from biodegradable waste.
Why choose Tasmania?
The government says HIF has simply joined companies looking at green hydrogen projects at Bell Bay in the state's north, and a company looking at building a renewable energy bitcoin mine on the west coast, in being impressed by the state's renewable energy credentials.
Tasmania is already 100 per cent self-sufficient in terms of its renewable energy generation, and plans to double its renewable energy generation levels by 2040.
In a joint release, Premier Jeremy Rockliff and Energy Minister Guy Barnett say the proposal is in its early stages but is "a further sign that Tasmania's ambitious renewable energy plans are attracting premium world-wide investment".
That, combined with the Surrey Hills's proximity to the Burnie port, is expected to play a key factor in HIF's decision to build the plant in Tasmania.
Mr Baxter says the nature of the work at renewable energy processing plants is not that different from what takes place in more traditional industries, meaning developments like this allow regional places to set themselves up for the future.
"For places like Burnie, that has gone through cycles of relative unemployment, this is really proof being in the pudding in terms of the jobs and opportunities that are there for the long term," he says.
There are still unanswered questions about the project, including what it will cost and how many jobs it will create.
