Hamilton Locke Partner Matt Baumgurtel and Senior Associate Adriaan van der Merwe spoke at Trueventus’ 2022 Carbon Capture Summit on “The Opportunity for CCUS to grow a Carbon Neutral Economy”.
CCUS is the process of capturing carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from fossil power generation and industrial processes for storage deep underground or for re-use.
We set out some key takeaways from the conference below:
- The IEA estimates that CCUS could contribute up to 9% of the greenhouse gas mitigation effort by 2050. CCUS therefore has an important role to play in decarbonisation.
- The main opportunities for CCUS are:
- capturing emissions from existing infrastructure (e.g. power plants);
- low-carbon hydrogen production (blue H2); and
- decarbonising challenging emissions (e.g. gas, cement, steel and fertiliser).
- The legal framework for CCUS is well developed in Victoria, Queensland and South Australia, but harmonisation across Australia has a role to play.
- CCUS has the potential to elongate the lifespan of carbon intensive infrastructure.
- CCS clusters can significantly reduce costs and add to the viability of projects.
- There is a definite first mover advantage.
- Government support for CO2 leakage liability after the commercial life of a project will be crucial.
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