@Hopeful9 This was in The Australian's Energy Nation today as...

@Hopeful9 This was in The Australian's Energy Nation today as well.


Global trend in carbon capture an attractive option for Australia
SAM DUNCAN

Australia’s approach to net zero emissions is often perceived as less ambitious
compared to other advanced economies. However, direct comparisons are
challenging, as each country operates within its own unique political, economic,
social and environmental context.
Around the world, governments including in the US, UK and EU and major trading
partners like Japan and Korea are investing billions of dollars in lowemissions
technologies such as carbon capture and storage (CCS) and hydrogen production, and
in renewable energy. Advanced nuclear power is also a significant focus for the US,
EU and Japan.
Australia’s net zero approach relies heavily on wind and solar as primary renewable
energy sources, with hydrogen production and CCS also playing key roles.
Globally, CCS is increasingly seen as an essential component of the technology mix,
capable of decarbonising existing heavy industry and helping to meet stringent
climate goals.
Given Australia’s continued reliance on fossil fuels like coal and gas in the near
term, and the scale of its heavy industry, CCS offers a viable solution to reduce the
resulting CO2 emissions.
According to the CSIRO, Australia has several comparative advantages in carbon
capture, utilisation and storage (CCUS) development.
While CCUS includes the same core elements as CCS, the additional focus on
utilisation provides further opportunities.
Australia’s geology, landmass, existing infrastructure and potential for cheap
renewable energy resources all offer significant opportunities for domestic and
international CO2 transport, storage and utilisation.
There are currently 41 CCS projects in operation globally and 351 in development,
with new projects being announced weekly, according to the Global CCS Institute.
The technology, which has been around since the 1970s and saw its first large-scale
project launched in 1996, is used to abate millions of tonnes of CO2 every year at
sites around the world.
This includes projects in Western Australia and Victoria, as well as Santos’ onshore
Moomba CCS project, which will soon enter operation in South Australia.
Dr David Close, who leads the University of Queensland’s Gas and Energy Transition
Research Centre, says although Australia has made “amazing progress in
decarbonising the grid” and has a “very robust plan to continue doing so”,
substantial emissions from heavy industry remain challenging to abate.
Decarbonising Australia’s heavy industry is particularly difficult due to high energy
requirements, limited availability of lowcarbon energy sources and the high costs of
transition.
While other industrialised nations face similar issues, Australia’s heavy industry is
especially reliant on fossil fuels. According to the CSIRO, about a sixth of Australia’s
emissions come from heavy industries including cement, steel and aluminium. And
that even when zero-emission energy sources are used, these industries can still
produce some CO2 as an inherent part of the production process.
The plans to abate these emissions are important, says Dr Close, as failing to address
them means forgoing participation in those industries or offshoring them to
different jurisdictions.
“Neither option is in the global best interest.”
Dr Close says that once the nation’s more straightforward emissions reductions are
achieved, the “low-hanging fruit”, the remaining emissions, particularly from
heavy industry, will still be significant.
Therefore, to meet the international target of limiting global temperature rise to 2
degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels, Australia will need to further explore
CCS.
“If the globe is to get to net zero, Australia must at some point in the latter half of
the century become carbon negative,” he says.
“We can’t do that without a largescale CCS industry.”
There are, however, significant obstacles in developing CCS projects in Australia, Dr
Close says, such as the recent refusal of the Glencore CTSCo plan to pump more than
300,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide into the Great Artesian Basin and the Queensland
state government ban on CCS anywhere above the basin.
Dr Close says that although there is a willingness at the federal level to embrace CCS,
state governments are responsible for approvals.
And that the recent events in Queensland set a precedent that will disincentivise
projects on the east coast of Australia.
“I think it’ll be very difficult to encourage proponents to put forward projects to
capture and sequester CO2 given the Glencore CTSCo application refusal and ban,”
he says.
“These projects involve lots of expenditure and are unlikely to be supported unless
there is a change of approach by all levels of government to lead on CCS.”
Geoscience received significant funding support in the May federal budget, with
$556m for the Resourcing Australia Prosperity program managed by Geoscience
Australia, aimed at mapping the country’s resources and geological storage
potential.
Research that identifies potential sites for the storage of CO2 is a crucial enabler to
the deployment of CCS technology at scale in Australia.
A total of $32.6m has been allocated over the next four years for regional cooperation
on carbon sequestration. These funding initiatives are part of the budget’s
$22.7bn Future Made in Australia agenda, which includes making Australia a clean
energy superpower.
Despite these recent budget initiatives, Australia’s investment in low emission
technologies still lags behind that of the US and EU.
The US is channelling $US303bn ($456bn) into clean energy technologies, including
renewables, electric vehicles and grid infrastructure, driven by the Inflation
Reduction Act and the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.
The Inflation Reduction Act provides a deliberately technology neutral tax credit that
aims to level the playing field between various low-carbon energy technologies such
as solar, wind, nuclear, batteries, carbon capture, and others by encouraging
investments in the most impactful and commercially available technology.
The UK is similarly investing heavily and has allocated £20bn to CCS.
Rating Australia’s overall approach to low-emissions technologies, Dr Close says:
“At the macro level, we’ve gone from being a laggard to close to the front of the
pack. With CCS, however, Australia is a bit of an outlier, having made some kind of
ideological decision that it is not an important part of decarbonisation.”