Dario Tomat

Dario Tomat is a director and the owner of the management consultancy firm, Whetstone Pty Ltd and the National President of the Association of Professional Engineers, Scientists and Managers, Australia. He is also listed as the General Manager of Newood Huon Pty Ltd.

Background
A 2009 note states that Tomat "completed his studies in mechanical/electrical engineering at the University of Tasmania in 1975. He has worked as a consultant and project manager in the building and construction industry before joining the Energy Policy Unit of the Department of Premier and Cabinet. In the eighties he contributed to early energy management programs in Tasmania and was subsequently appointed the Senior Engineer (Energy Planning) at the Hydro Electric Commission. Over the past decade he has been providing support to Forestry Tasmania for the establishment of the wood centre concepts in the Huon and at Circular Head. Last year he was guest lecturer on Energy from Biomass at the Future Climate Conference in Copenhagen Denmark."

He is also a board member of Chifley Business School, ETM Pty Ltd, ETP Pty Ltd and APESMA Insurance Pty Ltd.

Promoting Wood-Fired Power stations
In October 2009, Dario Tomat presented the Sir Victor Burley Lecture 2009  at an event in Hobart organised by the Institution of Engineering and Technology.

In a media release, FT quoted Tomat stating that "forest residues could have a beneficial end use, not only as a fuel source for electricity, but with the right processing could provide liquid fuel for vehicles. It is possible to use gasification of the wood to produce carbon monoxide and hydrogen which can then be recombined for various energy end uses, including liquid fuels." However, it noted that while direct generation for electricity was an established technology, other technologies were still at the pre-commercialisation pilot stage.

"Tasmania has several hundreds of thousands of tonnes of wood each year that would be available. It has the potential to contribute several percentage points to our total energy savings," he said.

Related SourceWatch articles

 * Forestry Tasmania and wood-fired power stations