Create a new carbon capture and storage (CCS) industry – unlock Australian CO

Abstract

Carbon capture and storage (CCS) is central to a clean energy transition. According to the UN’s IPCC and IEA, CCS needs to attain a global CO2 reduction capacity of ~4 billion tonnes per annum by 2050 to achieve Paris Agreement targets. To date, only 27 large-scale CCS facilities are operating worldwide, totalling 36.6 million tonnes per annum of CO2 reduction. Massive number of new projects are needed. Australia has a potential CO2 storage capacity of 434 billion tonnes, with 316 billion tonnes (73%) residing in offshore oil and gas fields and aquifers. A key constraint to unlock this potential is that the CO2 storage sites and emitter sources are not necessarily located close by. Since CCS projects considered to date in Australia use pipeline transportation, this limits the number of developments to those that have the emission sources and storage sites in proximity. By utilising the Floating CCS Hub development concept, which includes CO2 carriers and floating CCS hub facilities, CCS can be provided to a broader range of emission sources. The transportation cost using CO2 carriers is not as sensitive to transport distance as pipelines, which have a linear relationship between distance and cost. In addition, the CO2 carriers costs are reducing substantially as technology allows for CO2 to be transported in lower pressure states enabling larger parcel sizes, and manufacturing efficiencies further reducing costs. CO2 carriers and CCS hub facilities minimise development constraints related to pipeline distances and land use, and enable replicability and scalability for multiple CCS projects.