Labor wants to help gas giants ‘scale up’ carbon capture potential

The government unveiled a $2 billion fund to promote hydrogen development, but limited it to green hydrogen, which is made via a process powered by renewable energy. The funding program will not be open to “blue hydrogen”, which is made from coal or gas paired with carbon capture to trap and bury the emissions before they are release into the atmosphere.

King on Tuesday will say the government recognises the need to “scale up carbon capture and storage” and will commence a new round of consultations to release more greenhouse gas storage acreage in Australian waters.

“We want to work with industry to progress new projects, whilst ensuring they are effectively regulated to meet community expectations,” she says.

Last week’s federal budget allocated $12 million to review regulation of the offshore gas industry, focusing on carbon capture and storage projects.

Meg O’Neill, chief executive of oil and gas producer Woodside Energy, will tell Tuesday’s conference that Australia is lagging other countries on the deployment of carbon capture projects.

“Almost two-thirds of planned carbon capture, utilisation and storage investments globally are in the United States, Canada and Europe,” says O’Neill, who is also the chair of the Australian Petroleum Production and Exploration Association.

“They are supported by mechanisms such as the United States $US394 billion ($589 billion) Inflation Reduction Act and the UK’s £20 billion ($37 billion) investment.”

O’Neill says oil and gas producers want to work with the federal government on a national strategy to position the country as a regional carbon dioxide storage leader as countries with limited storage potential, such as Japan and South Korea, search for partners to help meet their net zero emissions targets.

“In Australia, I believe this is a technology that may have been judged too soon,” she says.

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