A word from the CEO
Innovation, collaboration and regulation all vital for CCS
Australia’s pathway to net zero will require increasing use of renewable energy – but renewables alone will not deliver on time for mid-century targets.
The government’s target of 82% renewables by 2030 is seen as a critical milestone on the journey to carbon neutrality – but the challenges in meeting it are becoming increasingly obvious. Figures from the Clean Energy Council show investment in large-scale renewable energy projects fell almost 80 per cent over 2023 due to higher construction costs, supply chain bottlenecks and delayed planning approvals.
That is not to say the renewables rollout will not accelerate and make up some lost ground, but it is increasingly clear that a renewables-only strategy will not get Australia to net zero on schedule.
This again underlines the critical role of other emissions reductions technologies to meet our climate goals – and none are more important the carbon capture and storage.
It was pleasing to see the release of a report from Western Australia’s Chamber of Commerce and Industry highlighting not only the need for CCUS, but the economic benefits that would be associated with its development.
The report Capturing our Future: Why Carbon Capture is critical to Australia’s Energy Transition says the development of CCUS technologies could contribute more than $80 billion to the Western Australian economy over 20 years.
That contribution comes from both the money emitters would pay to store carbon as well as the investment on infrastructure, transport and the associated job creation.
Western Australia, along with South Australia, stands out among Australia’s states and territories for the work it has done to put in place efficient and effective policy framework to support onshore CCS.
While much of the focus on CCS in Australia has been offshore – under Federal Government oversight – onshore projects, regulated by state and territory governments, will also be vital.
It is no coincidence that the jurisdictions which are most supportive of continued development of their natural gas resources are also the most supportive of CCS. Gorgon in WA, SA’s Moomba CCS and the Middle Arm project in the NT enjoy strong support from their local governments, while other states stand still. Remarkably, Queensland which has benefitted enormously from gas development over the last 20 years has embraced bi-partisan populism in effectively banning onshore CCS with unfounded and unscientific restrictions on projects within the Great Artesian Basin.
An essential precursor for CCS to play its role in decarbonising the Australian economy, is the development of appropriate regulatory frameworks which both ensure the highest environmental protections and provide clarity and certainty industry needs to invest.
This sits alongside our work in technological innovation as essential to delivering CCS at scale and at pace.
To this end, CO2CRC will soon announce increasing collaboration with Curtin University to continue development of next generation, higher resolution CCS monitoring technologies at our Otway International Test Centre in western Victoria. The work with Curtin University’s Geophysics Department leverages the seismic monitoring expertise and cutting-edge knowledge of researchers. It will be funded through a 3-year, $2.4 million collaboration agreement supported by Low Emissions Technology Australia (LETA), as part of the overall $50 million project supported by partners including Chevron, ExxonMobil, BP, BHP, the Ministries for Energy of Japan and Korea and the Australian Government.
The collaboration continues CO2CRC’s work in pursuing technology development and innovation with a wide range of Australian and international partners to enable the next generation of solutions needed for sustainable emissions reduction.
Collaboration with internationally respected industry, academic and government partners in Japan, Korea, the US, UK and other countries enables CO2CRC to deliver innovative research, products and services designed to improve the cost-effectiveness and demonstrate the environmental integrity of CCUS technologies and methodologies.
We’ve been doing this for over 20 years, but as the role of CCS becomes clearer, this work is more important than ever.
Dr Matthias Raab, CEO.
CO2CRC researchers well received at European Association of Geoscientists and Engineers Conference
Above: Dr. Hadi Nourollah Senior Geophysicist CO2CRC who presented on CO2CRC’s significant contribution to the development of Distributed Fibre Optic Sensing technology and Michael Rieger CO2CRC Geophysicist who spoke about CO2CRC’s Shallow Fault Project at the EAGE Conference in Perth in August.
CO2CRC representatives recently attended a conference hosted by the EAGE focused on the energy transition, with CCUS at the centre of the discussions. The Workshop on Fibre Optic Sensing for Energy Applications was attended by industry experts with researchers showcasing recent advancements in fibre optic technology across various industries such as oil and gas, geothermal, mining and CCUS. A wide range of fascinating applications were presented from 4D seismic imaging, wellbore integrity, mining geotechnics and ecological sampling.
Dr Hadi Nourollah presented on CO2CRC’s significant contribution to the development of Distributed Fibre Optic Sensing technology at our Otway Internation Test Centre with applications in CO2 plume monitoring. Michael Rieger focussed on CO2CRC’s Shallow Fault Project, presenting on an innovative workflow to history match geomechanical models using fibre optical strain data.
CO2CRC Developments Feature in 2024 Global Carbon Capture Institute Technology Compendium
Each year the GCCSI releases a publication detailing the latest CCS technologies available on the market. The 2024 edition features over 120 state of the art CCS technological insights into the latest CCS advancements and solutions. The publication details performance and applications of new CCS technologies and includes a snapshot of the range of industries where available technologies are being applied.
The two technologies included from CO2CRC are the adsorbent CO2Sorb, used to separate CO2 from a high pressure gas stream and HyCaps – a hybrid capture system that combines the benefits of both a membrane and a solvent. CO2Sorb Adsorbent was designed specifically to capture CO2 from high pressure (up to 50bar) gas streams. It is particularly suitable for use in Pressure Swing Adsorbent (PSA) systems where its modular and low footprint design can potentially enable the technology to be used in offshore platforms and other small footprint locations. The latest formulation for CO2Sorb can capture CO2 with 3 times more working capacity and 3 times better CO2-Methane (CH4) selectivity thus reducing CAPEX cost and increase revenue from pure methane gas respectively. The CO2Sorb formulation can also be designed for other applications including but not limited to CO2 capture in biogas and in hydrogen processing (SMR).
HyCaps is a hybrid capture solution combining solvent and membrane technology inside the same modular system. The novel system is designed specifically for low pressure carbon dioxide capture and can be a useful application in both the hard-to-abate and power and energy sectors. Its modular and low footprint design enables this technology to be used in tight and low footprint operations such as offshore platforms, shipping/vessels or any other brownfield or/and greenfield point source emitters. HyCaps’s techno-economic results coupled with its ability to incorporate advanced or bespoke solvents and membranes, positions HyCaps as one of the most attractive CO2 capture solutions available.
Final Preparations Underway for OITC Stage 4 Carbon Dioxide Storage Operations
Above: Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory’s Julia Correa, with CO2CRC Stage 4 Operations Manager, Mitch Allison.
Storage of up to 15 000 tonnes of carbon dioxide as part of CO2CRC’s Stage 4 project, will commence in October. Scientists from Curtin University and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratories were recently on site to complete the installation of the sophisticated seismic monitoring equipment that will create an image of the carbon dioxide plume 1500m below the surface. A tenth surface orbital vibrator has been installed to the south of the Otway International Test Centre Site as a source of vibrations enabling CO2CRC to obtain a more detailed image of the southern edge of the stored carbon dioxide plume and to also test the application of “far-field” vibrations – where the source is located at a distance from the receivers.
The carbon dioxide to be stored will be sourced from CO2CRC’s Butress-1 well, a natural source of carbon dioxide located close to the CO2CRC Site. The carbon dioxide will be piped, then stored in the Paaratte formation approximately 1 500m below the surface, at a rate of approximately 140 tonnes a day. Traditional seismic surveys in addition to reservoir fluid sampling, continuous passive seismic monitoring, distributed strain sensing, reservoir formation measurements and surface and reservoir temperature and pressure monitoring are all planned to complement the 2 dimensional (2D) data collected using the surface orbital vibrators to accurately monitor the activity below the surface.
The stage 4 project aims to provide a globally applicable demonstration of commercially relevant reservoir management technologies to improve injection, storage and monitoring efficiencies, materially lowering project costs for commercial carbon dioxide storage operations.
The modelling component of the research, known as the GVF project is being undertaken in collaboration with Stanford and Melbourne Universities and is focussed on improving modelling when carbon dioxide is stored in areas of the subsurface with a highly varied geological composition.
CO2CRC is working with Japanese geological research organisation RITE to test novel strain sensitive fibre optics for monitoring stored carbon dioxide in addition to innovative equipment to create tiny bubbles of carbon dioxide that it is hypothesised will dissolve more readily into the formation water enabling the maximisation of the amount of carbon dioxide gas stored in a target formation. It is intended to demonstrate the potential to achieve a minimum 20% increase in the amount of carbon dioxide stored.
CO2CRC’s Stage 4 project will provide answers to a complex set of questions posed by global industry to improve the technologies and data required to implement carbon capture and storage.
Follow CO2CRC today on LINKEDIN to keep up to date with the latest news on our ground-breaking demonstration and research projects.
CO2CRC Training and Education
CCUS Fundamentals Course Wednesday 2 October 2024 - Online
Enjoy the convenience of CO2CRC’s industry leading full day CCUS Fundamentals course delivered directly to your office or training room. CO2CRC’s Fundamentals Course provides targeted knowledge exchange on all things CCUS to upskill yourself or your team in CCUS. MORE INFORMATION
Contact Max Watson for more information.
CCUS Principles Practices and Applications 12-14 November 2024 Melbourne
For a deeper dive into the emerging industry of CCUS, join us for our comprehensive training course, “CCUS Principles, Practices, and Applications.” Developed by CO2CRC, Australia’s leading research organisation in CCUS, this course is designed to equip participants with a relevant, practical understanding of the technical principles and engineering solutions applicable to CCUS. Contact Max Watson or read more information.
Energy Transition News
26/08/24 Labor’s gas plan irks Pacific leaders ahead of forum – The Australian. Anthony Albanese’s plan to expand natural gas production will come under fire at the Pacific Islands Forum in Tonga.
26/08/24 The sun is setting on our renewables ‘superpower’ fantasy – The Australian. Renewable energy superpower status is supposedly in Australia’s grasp now the government has given Mike Cannon-Brookes the green light to export solar power to Singapore.
26/08/24 Germany To Invest $3.7 Billion In Industry Transition And Carbon Storage – Carbon Herald. Germany announced its intention to launch a 3.3 billion euros funding initiative to facilitate industrial decarbonisation.
26/08/24 Carbon storage sets approval for Woodside’s Browse gas project back to square one – The Age. Woodside is yet to apply for federal environmental approval for a key part of its $30 billon-plus Browse gas export project after its bid for a regulatory shortcut was rejected.
26/08/24 Timor Leste Lays down Ultimatum to Santos on Gas project negotiations – The Age Santos could lose control of its Bayu Undan gas project north of Darwin unless it agrees with the Timor-Leste government to give it a share of the project.
26/08/24 Big emitters chase new climate fix: turning their pollution into products – The Age Rio Tinto and Woodside Energy have signed up to underpin the launch of a $60 million Australian research hub.
25/08/24 Chevron Secures New Carbon Capture Assessment Permit Offshore Western Australia – Carbon Herald Chevron has recently secured a permit for a CCS assessment.
24/08/2024 Japan And Singapore To Work Together On CCS Carbon Herald. Japan and Singapore formalized an agreement on August 21 to enhance their partnership in CCS initiatives.
23/08/2024 Can UK industry make carbon capture work? – Financial Times. The technology offers huge benefits for polluters struggling to reduce emissions and meet climate goals, but it is untested at scale.
23/08/24 Experts are divided on role of carbon capture in net zero world – Carbon Brief. A revised report downplays hydrogen’s role in net zero, predicting that carbon capture will fill the gap in tough industries.
23/08/2024 Mutual reinforcement of land-based carbon dioxide removal and international emissions trading in deep decarbonization scenarios – Nature Found that the total amount spent on emissions trading and the revenue received by CDR producers do not vary strongly with constraints on emissions trading or CDR.
22/08/2024 Have China’s carbon emissions peaked? The answer is critical to limiting global warming – Science Nation’s massive deployments of coal and green energy are complicating forecasts
22/08/2024 Can Pulling Carbon from Thin Air Slow Climate Change? – Scientific American Tech firms, oil companies and the U.S. government are investing billions of dollars in carbon capture technology to suck greenhouse gases out of the atmosphere.
17/08/2024 U.S. DOE Injects $54.4M to Boost Carbon Management Tech and Cut Carbon Emissions – Carbon credits.com. The DOE announced a $54.4 million to advance carbon management technologies.
16/08/2024 Carbon Removals Aren’t Just About Getting the Science Right – Inside Climate News. Carbon removal technologies are facing serious challenges beyond engineering and chemistry.
16/08/2024 Non-aqueous alkoxide-mediated electrochemical carbon capture – Nature. Electrochemically mediated carbon capture utilizing redox-tunable organic sorbents has emerged as a promising strategy to mitigate anthropogenic carbon dioxide emissions.
16/08/2024 Canada Growth Fund Invests $100 Million in Carbon Capture Solutions Provider Svante – ESG Today. Svante swill spend up to USD$100 million from Canada’s government-backed Canada Growth Fund to address emissions in hard-to-abate industries in Canada and the U.S.
16/08/2024 VTT pilot plant turns captured carbon dioxide plastic – sustainable plastics. VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland, LUT University, have opened a pilot plant in Espoo, Finland using captured carbon dioxide to make compounds that can replace fossil raw materials in plastic.
12/08/2024 Australian player looking to launch fully operational CCS project by early 2030s – Offshore Energy Perth-headquartered InCapture has secured a permit for a CCS assessment project on the North West Shelf in Australia.
12/08/2024 ‘We’re still in the 1970s with cement’: Norway plant to blaze carbon-free concrete trail – The Guardian. If successful, projects such as Heidelberg Materials’ plant in Brevik could help the industry to a third of its carbon savings by 2050.
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