DPI&F scientists are assessing the viability of growing plant oil species to reduce the building industry's reliance on fossil fuel-produced resins.

Currently most resins and adhesives used in aerospace structures and in structural building materials are ultimately derived from crude oil.

DPI&F project officer Dr Andries Potgieter said generating resins from renewable sources such as plant oils could reduce greenhouse gas emissions and result in a smaller carbon footprint.

"The first step in the project was identifying which of the plant oil species are best suited to the Australian environment," Dr Potgieter said.

"Initially, we tested 13 plants for their suitability to Australian agronomic conditions and unsaturated oil content.

"We were able to narrow the selection down to eight species straight away due to the classification of some as weeds and their limited exposure to the Australian broad-acre cropping environment.

"We now have a final list of six plant species that show high potential for the extraction of oil for resin, and are currently not part of an existing oil production and refinery system."

They are:

Cannabis sativa – hemp

Calendula officinalis - pot marigold

Camelina sativa - false flax

Pongamia pinnata - pongam tree

Lesquerella fendleri - desert mustard

Crambe abyssinica - abyssinan mustard.

This joint project between DPI&F, USQ and Loc Composites Pty Ltd, could to lead to the production of fibre composites which can be used in sustainable high technology building products used in, for example, the production of railway sleepers and small bridges.

Dr Potgieter said the main challenge was to make it financially viable for farmers to grow crops for this purpose.

"Take up of these plant-oil species by farmers will depend on the manufacturing properties of the oil produced and the profitability of the crop."