Caroline Aspiridis: Mars Inc. have a very ambitious target globally of 100% net zero carbon by 2050 and we're looking to be 100% renewable at our Wodonga site by the end of 2026.
Caroline Aspiridis: We're part of the broader Mars Inc. business which is headquartered in the US and we're responsible for making Australia's largest amount of pet food.
Dominic Zaal: Mars Wodonga site use natural gas to generate heat. They are primarily a steam manufacturer. So most of the heat they require is in the form of steam.
Dominic Zaal: They use around about 140,000 gigajoules of gas and they wanted to understand what they could do to displace as much of that over time.
Caroline Aspiridis: The Mars pet nutrition business within Australia has always seen itself as a pioneer.
Caroline Aspiridis: So in order to meet our 100% renewable targets, the Wodonga site's going to employ three different strategies.
Caroline Aspiridis: The first one is we're currently building a parabolic trough concentrated solar thermal or CST plant, which will be powered by renewable energy to create steam. When we do that it takes away the need for up to 50% of our natural gas requirements at Wodonga.
Caroline Aspiridis: One of them is use of an alternative hydrogen fuel instead of natural gas.
Caroline Aspiridis: And the third one is an ETES technology that takes up to 10 hours of solar thermal energy and it uses that to convert water into steam, which then means we can reduce our carbon footprint.
Dominic Zaal: Back in 2019 we're approached by Mars Wodonga. Mars said we want to do some fundamental change. So we want to break that nexus with gas. They selected the Wodonga site because it's in Australia and what Australia was able to bring to that site was lots of innovation, good companies with good technology, but also energy resources, particularly solar resources, which are the best anywhere in the world.
Dominic Zaal: With the solar thermal and the ETES, they're going to get to 90% gas displacement and associated emissions, which is an absolutely amazing achievement, one of the best in the world and certainly the first of its kind in Australia.
Caroline Aspiridis: Australia is an excellent innovation hub and by pioneering this innovation at Wodonga and with the support of the Australian Government we've been able therefore to test and learn on these innovative technologies and see where they can be applied elsewhere across the globe.
Caroline Aspiridis: We're becoming leaders for the Mars business globally and now Mars Inc. is looking at how they can install CST in other parts of the world where they also have great access to solar thermal and space.
Dominic Zaal: The relationship between the Australian government and industry is critical in this space, particularly as we try to decarbonise. Working with companies like Mars, but also working with the Australian Government and Austrade has been absolutely fundamental to changing this landscape.
Dominic Zaal: A multinational company with multiple sites all around the world use an Australian site to demonstrate Australian technology and to show how that technology can be utilised and broaden out to other countries and other locations, but more importantly for Mars deliver on their significant sustainability objectives and targets.
Dominic Zaal: We're showing what it's like to do business in Australia and attracting an investment locally, but at the same time showing how Australian tech can actually drive innovation globally as well.