New regulations enable ARENA (Australian Renewable Energy Agency) to broaden its remit and accelerate the development of priority low emission technologies, as identified under the federal government’s Technology Investment Roadmap.
“Australia is a world leading innovator in low emission technologies,” CO2CRC chief executive Dr Matthias Raab said.
“The expansion of ARENA’s remit will accelerate the application and scaling up of technologies that strengthens Australian industry while reducing CO2 emissions at significant scale.”
“The value of Carbon Capture Utilisation and Storage (CCUS) is its versatility. Its application extends across heavy industry, decarbonising natural gas processing, power generation, steel and cement production,” he said.
Carbon dioxide can also be removed from the air through direct air capture. Then it can be either permanently stored underground, or converted to useful products, according to Raab.
“Furthermore, CCUS allows clean hydrogen production from fossil fuels, paired with deep underground storage of carbon dioxide, to be the most cost-effective, reliable and flexible pathway to large-scale hydrogen production,” he said.
“Geological storage of carbon dioxide allows emission abatement at scale. It is immediate and permanent. Australia is well positioned to be at the forefront of the global scale-up of CCUS technologies. It has some of the world’s best deep sedimentary basins in which to store carbon dioxide, an internationally recognised resources industry, ready access to the latest CCUS technologies, expertise, and globally renowned researchers.
“CO2CRC, Australia’s leading CCUS research organisation, operates the Otway International Test Centre in southwest Victoria, where it has safely and permanently stored and monitored carbon dioxide in a variety of rock formations for more than a decade,” Raab said.
“The research is done in collaboration with leading national and international researchers alongside industry partners to accelerate commercial technology solutions.”