CCS funding may get the nod

On 30 May 2017, the Hon Josh Frydenberg, Minister for the Environment and Energy, made a statement regarding proposed changes to the CEFC Act to remove the prohibition on the CEFC investing in carbon capture and storage (CCS) technologies. Legislation will be introduced into parliament today (Wednesday, 31 May 2017).

The CEFC said amendments to the CEFC Act are a matter for the parliament. As a government agency, the CEFC has always complied with the Act, and said it will continue to do so.

“The majority of existing large-scale CCS projects globally are in the industrial sector, including in natural gas, fertiliser, hydrogen, and iron and steel making. In Australia, there are several industrial pilot CCS projects either in operation or at a planning stage,” the CEFC said in a statement release.

Opponents to the CCS technology have said that when it is used for clean-coal applications it is too costly for the benefits achieved. But the Energy Networks Australia welcomes the decision by the federal government to level the playing field by allowing the Clean Energy Finance Corporation to fund CCS technology.

Energy Networks Australia CEO John Bradley said permitting investments in CCS technologies by the fund was consistent with a “technology neutral” regulatory framework for achieving carbon abatement.

“Australia’s economy is inherently carbon intense and it needs all viable technology options on the table to achieve deep decarbonisation in line with the Paris aspiration of zero net emissions by the second half of the century,” Bradley said.

“CCS has the potential to support long-term carbon abatement in major industries with significant carbon emissions, like metal manufacturing, fertilisers and advanced manufacturing.

“CCS technologies are not ‘pro-coal’, they are just one of the potential tools that could help Australia to efficiently achieve carbon abatement at scale, while maintaining energy security and affordability.

“Our recent work with the CSIRO in the Electricity Network Transformation Roadmap recommended technology neutral approaches, and noted that technologies like CCS, concentrated solar thermal, pumped hydro and power to gas hydrogen solutions all have potential to play a key role in future energy systems.

“Similarly, the recent Gas Vision 2050 publication identified CCS, along with renewable biogas and hydrogen technologies, as transformational technologies that could enable our gas infrastructure to achieve deep decarbonisation.”