Introduction delivered by CEO Dr Matthias Raab.

Carbon Capture, Utilisation, and Storage (CCUS) is integral to Australia's strategic approach to significant emissions reduction. Australia has several high-potential projects in the pipeline, poised to mitigate approximately 8% of the country’s emissions by sequestering 31 to 35 million tonnes of CO₂ annually by 2032. The advancement of CCS infrastructure is pivotal for enabling carbon-removal technologies, like direct air capture, necessary for achieving negative emissions and supporting the hard-to-abate sectors like steel, cement, and aviation.

 

Australia is uniquely positioned to assist partners in the Asia Pacific region in an ambitious intersection of environmental responsibility and industrial agility. Australia’s CCS endeavours will have an international impact, particularly for our major trade partners like Japan and Korea, by potentially shipping and storing their CO₂ and directly contributing to their emission reduction strategies. Such symbiotic relationships underscore Australia's critical role in a collective movement towards decarbonising our value chain.

 

The timely scaling of CCS projects is imperative to meeting legislated targets while confronting the industry’s challenges in securing rapid project approvals. Current industry-scale CCS projects in the pipeline can now surpass governmental speed in approvals, a known issue addressed by a newly formed intergovernmental steering committee and the industry to attract investment and enhance the speed at which project roll-out is required for Australia to meet its legislated emissions reduction targets.

 

The proposed large-scale CCS projects can catalyse economic growth, attract crucial investment, and set a global standard for efficient and responsible CCS deployment. 

Credible scientific reports from the IEA and IPCC have stated that CCUS is an important part of the technology options for countries to decarbonise, particular for hard to abate sectors. So what action is Australia taking to support CCUS?

We have heard from industry that the biggest challenge to deploying CCS projects quickly is the myriad of regulatory frameworks that don't necessarily speak to each other for both on and offshore, so a taskforce is looking at this. We're driving down emissions of those emitting more than 100,000 tonnes of CO₂ per year through our safeguard reforms, incentivising industry to do more quickly which may include using CCUS technologies.

Powering the Regions Fund and the Carbon Capture Technologies Program complements the safeguard reforms, supporting the transition of hard to abate sectors. Our sectoral plans will also articulate the role of CCUS in a decarbonising economy. We are opening more offshore acreage than ever to allow exploration for suitable greenhouse gas storage sites. Offshore acreage releases will provide potential opportunities in the near to medium term for geological storage here in Australia, supporting the movement of captured CO₂ between our regional partners, helping them decarbonise too.

Gas demand is expected to continue globally and in Australia for decades. Commercial drivers already exist for CCS for gas reservoir emissions. 

Realising the full potential of CCS in Australia will also require improved public and political sentiment and better regulation. 

For the last several years, the United States has undertaken a deliberate and focused policy effort to advance decarbonization. While the nature of the focus shifts from industrial emissions to the power sector, the overall objective of commercial deployment of CCUS is inherent in the federal approach. In 2019, the US National Petroleum Council (NPC) published an integrated CCUS study which provided robust recommendations for policy, regulatory, legal, and social considerations to address the “Dual Challenge” of balancing energy demands with environmental considerations. 

Those recommendations combined with shifting national objectives has resulted in congressional and executive support combined with increased corporate interest in decarbonization. Many of these policies are now part of the national landscape for CCUS. In fact, an unprecedented financial investment is being made through the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) 45Q tax credit and Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL). Regulatory policies are under consideration for permitting reform and two White House Council of Environmental Quality Taskforces have been established: for non-federal lands and for federal lands/outer continental shelf through the USE IT Act. 

Social policies are driving equity and environmental justice adjustments through President Biden’s Executive Order 14008 establishing the Justice40 initiative, which seeks to ensure that 40 percent of federal funding in certain areas goes to benefits in disadvantaged communities. This keynote will examine the underlying factors, intricacies, efficacy, and recent advancements in CCUS connected with this robust policy environment. 

 

Since 2017, CCS has scaled up significantly, and the project pipeline has reached an unprecedented capacity in 2023. It is expected that this trend will continue, as more countries are introducing CCS into their decarbonisation efforts. The diversity of industries to which CCS is being applied has increased significantly over the past several years, demonstrating a growing recognition of its role in supporting net-zero ambitions.

The last 12 months have seen a significant increase in equity financing and interest in project finance for CCS projects. Many businesses seeking to profit from the provision of CCS services, especially in the transport and/or storage of CO2, are now emerging on the back of expectations of enormous future demand and more stringent climate policy. International CCS value chains are being developed, with the first transboundary movement of CO2 by ship for geological storage having been completed between Belgium and Denmark in 2023.

CCS is also becoming a more prominent feature of public policy, from inclusion in a growing number of countries’ Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) through to the provision of targeted policy to drive deployment and the drafting of appropriate regulations.

These are all encouraging indicators of positive progress. However, authoritative analysis by the International Energy Agency, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, and others consistently indicates that achieving global climate targets will require annual CO2 storage rates of approximately 1 Gtpa by 2030, growing to around 10 Gtpa by 2050.

Analysis from the Institute and other organisations demonstrate that whilst there are credible pathways for scaling up CCS deployment to keep the world on track for the goals of the Paris Agreement, this will require a monumental policy effort. Continued growth of the facility development pipeline and ensuring projects in development proceed to final investment decision, construction and operation will be imperative to achieve these goals.

There have been significant changes to relevant policy across the globe in the last few years that have clearly demonstrated the potential of CCS project development to accelerate. For example: The impact of these recent developments is expected to be a sustained increase in the number of CCS projects in development, and a greater proportion of them successfully progressing to construction over the next decade.

The successful deployment of Carbon Capture, Utilization, and Storage (CCUS) is integral to achieving the Republic of Korea’s (hereinafter “Korea”) climate commitments outlined in its 2030 Nationally Determined Contributions (NDC) and 2050 Carbon Neutrality Scenarios. Korea is actively advancing CCUS technology through initiatives such as integrated CCS demonstrations, legislative measures to overcome barriers, and transboundary CCS.

This presentation provides a comprehensive overview of Carbon Capture, Utilization, and Storage (CCUS) developments in the Republic of Korea (hereinafter “Korea”). The presentation covers: CCUS in Korea’s 2050 carbon neutrality scenario and 2030 NDC, Korea’s CCS demonstration program at the Donghae gas field, the status of CCUS legislation, the importance of transboundary CCUS, and Korea’s international cooperation efforts with Australia. 

As a major producer and significant consumer of fossil fuel, the GCC region has some of the most intensive emitters per capita in the world, and accounts for a tenth of the world’s gas reserves. On the fiscal side, GCC remains economically dependent on hydrocarbons despite the recent progress on diversification. The region has however excellent conditions for CCS/CCUS: well-understood subsurface, concentrations of heavily emitting industries in close proximity to huge reservoirs in offshore shallow waters or onshore in sparsely populated deserts. The long history of the hydrocarbons industry and financial backing of the NOCs also favours the potential development of CCS/CCUS.

While CO₂ emissions from the GCC account for 3% of global emissions, the region has been a quick adopter of decarbonization technologies such as CCS and CCUS with a current capacity of around 4.7 mtpa and plans to reach 60 mtpa by 2030. In the short to medium term, GCC countries have the technical potential to capture 10 mtpa of CO₂ by 2028 of which 50% for enhanced oil recovery or geological storage, and the remaining as feedstock for various industrial processes. This presents an opportunity for the region to reduce its energy and industrial emissions, which account for 60% of the region’s total emissions.

On the policy side, there are a few challenges. MENA countries do not have a carbon pricing mechanisms and fossil fuel subsidies across GCC countries disincentivise CCUS uptake. It is true that most countries in the MENA region have introduced climate policies, but not CCUS specific policies. They do not have a regulation on CO₂ specification and lack of transparency and statistical figures on carbon emissions.

GCC also lacks specific regulations for private sector access to national oil company-owned (NOCs) pipelines and infrastructure. However, in some cases, such as with Saudi Aramco and ADNOC, third-party access rights or capacity expansion may be granted on a contractual basis. 

The nascent CCUS regulatory landscape creates an opportunity for companies and governments to pioneer cross-border CCUS policy cooperation, including establishing carbon pricing and/or trading schemes, carbon credits for CO₂ sequestration, and other incentives.

Example of UK-HyNET Eni Operated project (regulatory and technical considerations)

The successful and progressive implementation of a large number of new CCS projects (perhaps 30 to 40 4Mt projects) in Australia is pivotal to achieving the ambitious emissions reduction targets of 43% by 2030 and Net Zero by 2050. Additionally, it is imperative for Australia to uphold its commitments to Asia-Pacific energy partners, thereby ensuring their energy security and aiding in achieving their own emissions reduction objectives. To effectively execute these required projects and to maintain the required momentum, the industry requires comprehensive policy and regulatory support and a highly efficient regulatory regime.

 

The existing Federal regulatory framework offshore is, however, almost 20 years old and was developed in another era, an era when the concepts for what CCS would look like in Australia in the 2020s and 2030s was very different. This mismatch between the legislation’s legacy foundations, including its petroleum underpinnings and the lack of specific objectives (e.g., to reduce emissions) and the current dynamic project environment for CCS, which includes the recent net zero 2050, 43% reduction by 2030 and the Safeguard Mechanism, means that the existing regulatory framework is not really fit-for-purpose and will not provide the approvals timeframes necessary for Australia to meet its targets. 

 

To address this challenge, CO2CRC and its members have established the CCS Regulatory Taskforce or CCS RTF. The raison d’etre of the CCS RTF is to serve as platform for engagement by and between project proponents, to act as an incubator for innovative ideas, a platform to identify key regulatory issues and a vehicle to conceptualise, develop and mature potential options or solutions. Ultimately, the goal is to present these insights to the government for consideration and action. Significant progress has been made and substantial further advances are expected over the next one to two years. 

 

What is clear from an analysis of the number and location of planned and actual CCS projects in Australia over the last 20 years is that it is policy changes – such as the net zero target – that have been principally responsible for the recent dramatic increase in the number of CCS projects. Given that an increasing and large number of projects is required to meet net zero, it is encouraging that the policy driver is working. In contrast, the introduction of regulations has not moved the dial on project numbers, but it is effective regulation that is essential to the delivery of the projects facilitated by policy change. It is the regulatory pieces that the CCS Regulatory Taskforce is focussed upon.  

LETA is pleased to present our efforts in advancing emission reduction, particularly in the context of Australia and the Asia Pacific Region. LETA, backed by the Australian black coal industry, is committed to developing and implementing technologies that mitigate Scope 3 emissions across the coal value chain, focusing on sectors that are traditionally challenging to decarbonise.
 

Today, Australia’s economy includes significant volumes of energy intensive commodities that will be impacted by a global transition to a low carbon future. However, the natural resources sector is home to the world’s best engineering capability which means Australia is well positioned to simultaneously benefit from a low carbon transition – from rolling out new technologies to supporting the development of carbon stewardship within new, clean industries like hydrogen and ammonia. 

 

Our approach is global. We collaborate with industry, governments, research institutions and international partners in Japan and South Korea, leveraging our combined expertise to enhance the effectiveness and reach of our initiatives. 
 
 A flagship project for LETA is the CTSCo Project. This project involves a Post Combustion Capture (PCC) retrofit at the Millmerran power station with the aim to capture, transport, and securely store approximately 100,000 tonnes of CO2 annually for three years during the CO2 injection testing phase. Following this, we will monitor the underground CO2 plume, providing critical data and assurance to both the Queensland regulator and the public about the safety and effectiveness of CO2 storage in the Surat Basin. This project not only exemplifies LETA's commitment to carbon capture and storage but also serves as a beacon for future large-scale emission reduction projects.

INPEX is operator of Ichthys LNG, one of the world's largest and complex energy developments. Along with our Ichthys Joint Venture participants, we are committed to decarbonising Ichthys LNG and achieving net zero by 2050.

Deployment of CCS is the single largest step in our decarbonisation roadmap for Ichthys, representing a reduction of around 40% of total GHG emissions. Reforms to the Federal Government’s Safeguard Mechanism during 2023 have further reinforced the need for Australia’s large industrial emitters to urgently pursue direct abatement of GHG emissions. 

Creation of a CCS hub in Darwin would provide major decarbonisation opportunities not only for existing large emitters including LNG facilities, but also for potential new industries within the Middle Arm Sustainable Development Precinct (MASDP). Furthermore, the relative proximity of Darwin to Asian markets provides scope for potential development of CO2 import and storage services, thereby facilitating regional decarbonisation.

INPEX is also leading Bonaparte CCS, a joint venture with TotalEnergies and Woodside, for appraisal of a large-scale storage site utilising deep saline aquifers of the Petrel sub-basin.  Our goal is to prove up a storage site far larger than is required just for Ichthys LNG and support the establishment of a multi-user, multi-industry CCS hub.

The Gorgon carbon capture and storage (CCS) system is the world’s largest CCS system designed to capture carbon emissions.  Located at our Gorgon liquefied natural gas (LNG) facility on Barrow Island, the system prevents millions of tonnes of greenhouse gases being vented into the atmosphere.

To date, more than 8.5 million tonnes of CO₂ have been injected and more than 100 million tonnes of CO₂ is expected to be mitigated over the life of the CCS system.

 

Naturally occurring CO₂ is taken from offshore gas reservoirs and injected into a giant sandstone formation two kilometres under Barrow Island, where it remains permanently trapped. The Gorgon CCS system started up safely in August 2019 and will continue to be optimised to ensure it performs reliably over 40-plus years of operation.

Chevron is committed to sharing the lessons we've learned in developing the Gorgon CCS system with state and federal governments, research institutes and other energy producers to support the deployment of CCS technology in Australia.

Santos is establishing itself as a leading operator of CCS in the region. Its unique portfolio of long-life assets and long-term existing customer relationships has enabled Santos to start construction of Moomba CCS and is well progressed with it’s next in Bayu-Undan CCS. 

This presentation will give an overview of the current Santos operated CCS projects as well as outline Santos and its joint venture partners near-term competitive advantages of utilising existing infrastructure to bring costs down, increase certainty and enable speed to market. 

Dr Geoff O'Brien - Chief Scientist, CO2CRC
Professor Peter Cook - Distinguished Scientist, CO2CRC
Professor John Kaldi - Distinguished Scientist, CO2CRC
Professor Alf Garnett - University of Queensland Centre for Natural Gas
Professor Paul Webley - Department of Chemical Engineering, Monash University
Mr Kevin Dodds - Australian National Low Emissions Coal R&D
Dr Charles Jenkins - Senior Principal Research Scientist, CSIRO