Media release: Gas industry, the Northern Territory Government and CSIRO join forces to tackle emissions

The voice of the oil and gas industry said the joining of the CSIRO, the Northern Territory Government and industry to develop a path towards rapid emissions reduction across the energy sector in Northern Australia is a positive step.

APPEA Northern Territory Director Cassy Schmidt said APPEA member companies Woodside, Santos, INPEX and Origin Energy will form part of the new consortium in the development of a business case to assess the viability of a large-scale Carbon Capture Utilisation and Storage* (CCUS) Hub outside of Darwin.

“This could be a game changer for the Northern Territory as, if realised, it could create a blueprint for future low emissions hubs around Australia,” Ms Schmidt said.

“Australia needs low-cost emissions reduction projects and technologies to enhance its position as a leading energy exporter and ensure international competitiveness in a cleaner energy future.

“CCUS has the potential to deliver step-change emissions reduction and is an important way to not only reduce emissions but create thousands of jobs in the process. Australia has a natural competitive advantage to implement CCUS with known high quality, stable geological storage basins, existing infrastructure, world-class technical expertise and regulatory regimes (environment protection, carbon accounting and reporting, financial services).

“With scale and experience, the cost of CCUS will decrease, creating the potential to deliver competitive, large-scale abatement for existing industries and new industries such as hydrogen and ammonia.

“Hydrogen combined with CCS is an immense opportunity for Australia to fast-track its transition to a lower emissions economy.  Natural gas is the pathway to developing a home-grown hydrogen industry.

“A recent EnergyQuest report pointedly stated that the ‘greatest near-term potential for decarbonisation lies in blue hydrogen (hydrogen produced from natural gas with carbon capture and storage), rather than the much more expensive green hydrogen.’

“APPEA’s members are already at the forefront of hydrogen and CCUS, working in Australia and around the world to accelerate its development.

“Australia’s LNG export success means the Australian upstream oil and gas industry has the technology, expertise, commercial and trade relationships to make hydrogen exports a reality.

“CCUS and hydrogen development are just two examples of the work our industry is doing to reduce emissions.”

Read the media release