CO2CRC welcomes tech-driven approach to carbon capture and storage

In response to the recommendations of the King Review, the Australian Government recognises the role of carbon capture utilisation and storage (CCUS) in reducing Australia’s carbon emissions, a response that has been welcomed by CO2CRC.

“The government’s technology-neutral approach will enable Australia to economically meet its carbon reduction targets,” CO2CRC CEO David Byers said.

“As the King Review noted, the goal is to reduce emissions, and technology development can lower the cost of achieving this objective.

“Amending the ERF [Emissions Reduction Fund] legislation to enable a methodology to be developed for CCUS acknowledges the value of CCUS and demonstrates the technology-driven approach that will allow Australia to strengthen industry and create jobs while reducing CO₂ emissions,” he said.

“The acknowledgment that ARENA and the CEFC are to support the widest range of low emissions technologies consolidates this approach.”

Analysis by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), the International Energy Agency (IEA) and others concludes that the lowest cost pathway to substantially reducing global emissions will need to include capturing and storing carbon.

Australia is well positioned to capitalise on utilising CCS to lower CO₂ emissions, having ready access to the latest carbon-capture and storage technologies and expertise. It has some of the world’s best deep sedimentary basins in which to store carbon dioxide and an internationally recognised resources industry.

Carbon capture and storage is a well-understood technology. CO2CRC operates the Otway National Research Facility in south-west Victoria, where it has safely and securely stored and monitored carbon dioxide in a variety of rock formations for more than a decade.

The Global CCS Institute reports that since the 1970s, more than 260 million tonnes of human-caused carbon dioxide emissions have been captured and geologically stored. Globally, 19 large-scale facilities (four producing hydrogen from fossil fuels) are now operating. They capture and store around 40 million tonnes of carbon dioxide each year. More facilities are being built or are planned.

“Focusing on the reduction of CO₂ emissions rather than on a particular technology is the consensus of experts around the world and CO2CRC welcomes the opportunity to contribute to this technology-driven approach,” Byers said.

Image credit: ©stock.adobe.com/au/Romolo Tavani