Australia boosts green government credentials

The Australian and Victorian Governments are boosting their “green government” credentials under an AUD$100 (US$108 million) million carbon capture and storage project investment for the LaTrobe Valley — a coal-rich mining and electricity generation region in Victoria.

The two goverments will pool funding for Victoria’s first carbon capture and storage (CCS) project - CarbonNet; this is the second major project selected for funding under the Australian Government’s Carbon Capture and Storage Flagships program.

The Victorian Department of Primary Industries will manage the CarbonNet Project, with feasibility work to include modelling and testing of potential CO2 storage sites.

The CarbonNet Project will capture carbon emissions from power plants, industrial processes and new coal-based industries in the Latrobe Valley and store it in geological basins. — while helping reduce Australia’s carbon footprint.

Australian Minister for Resources and Energy, Martin Ferguson, AM, says investment in CCS is part of the Commonwealth’s “suite of support” for wide-ranging clean energy technologies that will reduce greenhouse gas emissions over time.

“The economic base of the Latrobe valley depends on brown coal and while the Government is committed to cutting CO2 emissions, the last thing we want to do is cut jobs in the process. Projects like CarbonNet will help shape a new economic future for this critical region,” Minister Ferguson says.

Apart from funding for CarbonNet, the Victorian Government has been awarded an offshore tenement for CO2 storage site exploration in the Gippsland Basin.

Victorian Minister for Energy and Resources, Michael O’Brien MP, says the state’s Gippsland Region is one of Australia’s most promising carbon storage sites.

“The Victorian Coalition Government is committed to energy security, and jobs in the Latrobe Valley. CarbonNet supports both by promoting low emission use of Victoria’s world class brown coal resource,” he says.

The Australian Government’s Carbon Capture and Storage Flagships program is part of an expanded AUD $5 billion (US$5.34 billion) Clean Energy Initiative.

The CCS Flagships program builds on the National Low Emissions Coal Initiative, which includes research, demonstration, mapping and infrastructure elements, and the Global CCS Institute, which includes support for industrial-scale CCS projects world-wide.