Low Emission Technology Australia is disappointed by the recommendations of a Federal Senate Inquiry into Glencore’s proposed Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) project.
The report, released today by the Senate Standing Committee on Environment and Communications, is a missed opportunity to recognise the crucial role that CCS technology can play in supporting Australia to reach its emissions reduction targets.
Following the recent decisions of the Queensland Government to refuse the continuation of Glencore’s CCS project – the Carbon Transport and Storage Corporation (CTSCo) – and to legislate a ban on CCS projects in the Great Artesian Basin (the GAB), the release of today’s report is a further challenge to Australia’s net zero ambitions and the country’s critical industries.
LETA’s Chief Executive Officer Mark McCallum said “today’s report provided an opportunity for the Senate Committee to do what governments around the world have already done by recognising the crucial role that CCS technology will play in a global net zero future.
“Unfortunately, the Committee missed that opportunity and instead allowed ideology and emotion to stand in the way of a crucial conversation about Australia’s pathway to net zero.
“The Queensland Government’s decision to ban CCS in the GAB was a knee-jerk decision not based in science and not in the interests of Australia’s commitment to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions.
“Australia’s own leading scientific agencies have confirmed that CCS will play a role in Australia reaching net zero and that the CTSCo project would not threaten the viability of groundwater in the GAB. It is unclear why these scientists weren’t invited to give evidence to the Committee and why more expert views weren’t drawn upon in making these recommendations.
“LETA urges the federal and state governments not to bow to pressure from a vocal minority running an unscientific scare campaign and to continue to support this vital technology.
“It is incumbent upon those who oppose critical technologies like CCS to outline the pathway to net zero for the hard to abate sectors of our economy that employ hundreds of thousands of Australian workers.”
Earlier this week, Minister for Resources the Hon Madeleine King MP said in a speech:
“Last November, the International Energy Agency reiterated that carbon capture, use, and storage remains a vital technology for achieving net zero emissions.
This is a welcome vote of confidence in carbon capture and storage.
The scale and urgency of addressing global warming demands we use all the tools available to us.
Deploying carbon management and geological storage technologies will help secure Australia’s energy transition future – and it will support our regional trading partners to decarbonise.
Along the way, it will create new jobs and economic opportunities here at home.”
The Minister went to on to say that:
“The Australian Government’s focus is on developing policies that promote the further deployment of carbon management technologies.”
LETA supports the Government’s position on CCS outlined by Minister King and urges the Government to reject the Senate Committee’s recommendations.
In a supplementary submission to the Committee following the banning of CCS in the GAB by the Queensland Government, LETA stated “CCS is a proven technology that can form an essential part of Australia’s pathway to net zero, particularly for those parts of our economy with hard-to-abate emissions such as cement and steel.”
LETA remains committed to collaborating with government, industry, and our international trading partners to further explore new technologies that will support Australia to reach net zero emissions while ensuring a future for the critical industries that support Australian jobs and households every day.
ENDS
BACKGROUND
LETA was a partner in the CTSCo project since 2014, as part of a group that provided funding and technical support.
Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) is an established and proven technology that is currently being used to abate millions of tonnes of CO2 every year at sites around the world, including projects in Western Australia and Victoria, and Santos’ onshore Moomba CCS project that will soon enter operation in South Australia.
CCS has the potential to capture more than 95 per cent of CO2 emitted from industrial facilities and power stations and prevent it from being released into the atmosphere. Once the CO2 is captured it can either be transported to an injection site and stored permanently underground in both onshore and offshore geological formations or repurposed by industry.
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 CCS technologies to support decarbonisation efforts of large critical industries.