Federal government backs carbon capture

By PHILIP HOPKINS

THE federal government has strongly backed carbon capture and storage projects such as Victoria’s CarbonNet to reach its net zero emissions target by 2050.

The Minister for Resources and Minister for Northern Australia, Madeleine King, said by managing emissions from Australia’s oil and gas production, carbon capturepresentedanopportunity to decarbonise Australia’s energy exports, in particular gas processing,liquefied natural gas and potentially hydrogen.

“The use of CCUS (carbon capture, utilisation and storage) will allow us to become atop exporter of low-carbon intensity energy in our region,” she said in aspeech in Darwinlastweek to the Australia and Southeast Asia Global CCS Institute forum.

“CCUS will also become essential if we are to manageemissionsfor industrial processesthat havenoknowntechnologicalalternatives,such as cement and some chemical manufacturing processes. The use of CCUS will allow us to become atop exporter of low-carbonintensiveenergy in our region,” she said.“We have legislated for net zero and there can be no doubtingour resolve on this front.”

CarbonNet, jointly funded by the state and federal governments since 2010, aims to capture carbon dioxide released by industrial processes in the Latrobe Valley and Wellington Shire. TheCO2 wouldbecompressed,transported and pumped underground into depleted oil and gas reservoirs offshore in Bass Strait.

Ms KingsaidAustralia had the ability to become aworld leader in theemerging CCS industry, with large, stable geological formations for greenhouse gasstorage.

The October Budget committed $141 million over 10 years to implement anew carbon capture technologiesprogram. “Australiahas already enteredinto lowemissionpartnership agreements with the Republic of Korea, Japan and Singapore, which includescooperationoncarbon capture. Our collaboration with these countries on key policy, regulatory and technical matterswill further enhance and progress the development of this essential technology,” she said..

“We are also amember of the Japan-ledAsia Carbon Capture Use andStorage Network that seeks to supportdeployment of carboncapture through the Southeast Asia region.“Collaboration includes technical and research work in mineralisation and carbonation technologies, synthetic aviation fuel, methanation and carbon dioxide storage monitoring injection and testing.”

Ms KingsaidAustralia had ahuge capacity for geological storageofcarbon dioxide in saline aquifers and depleted fields, both onshoreand offshore.

“Geoscience Australia is leading work in this field, identifying possible sites around Australia forstorage. There are some 16 projects that are at various stages of development across Australia,” she said.

While industry developedCCU, “thegovernment’s Offshore GreenhouseGas StorageRelease Program is akey mechanism to support thesector”, she said.

Five permits had been awarded -the first titles granted in offshore Australia outside the Victorian Government’s CarbonNet project. Ms King warned: “Nationally and internationally, we have along way to go with carbon capture.”

Sheadded that achieving net zero would need more mining, not less. “Batteries, wind farms, solar panels –they all need minerals, and we will needgas to process the minerals to buildthem. Without athriving resources sector there will be no net zero. The road to net zero runs through the resourcessector,” Ms King said.