Perhaps the most important reason for QER to develop a Queensland kerogen fuels industry – starting here in Gladstone – is to help improve Australia’s fuel security situation. These days Australia is heavily dependent on oil and fuel imports to meet most of our freight, transport, agriculture, mining, defense and aviation needs.

Isn’t it amazing how, over time, humans have been able to overcome seemingly insurmountable problems. Very often, underlying these solutions, is science. Science is really just a way to understand the world we live in through systematic observations and experiments.

I recently saw that Gladstone’s own Tondoon Botanic Gardens will feature in Australian Geographic as one of Australia’s top ten regional botanic gardens. Thie year we’ll also celebrate the Gardens’ 30th Birthday. The Gardens have come a long way from their humble beginnings, and there’s no doubt they are now an important and unique part of life in Gladstone.

I hope you’ve had (or are still having) a great break over the festive season. It’s a wonderful time to be together with family and friends and for that well-earned rest and reflection. However, as they say, no rest for the wicked, so at QER we’re back at work and straight into it.