$25m pumped into Otways CO2 study

AN OTWAYS-based project tackling climate change has received a $25 million federal funding boost, Science Minister Ian Macfarlane has announced.
The money will allow the carbon capture and storage (CCS) project to continue its research until 2020, Mr Macfarlane said.
The Cooperative Research Centre for Greenhouse Gas Technologies (CO2CRC) was “globally recognised” for its CCS work in the Otways.
“We expect to see important technological improvements to CCS modelling, monitoring and verification as a result,” Mr Macfarlane said.
“The end goal is the wide scale deployment of an effective system for capturing carbon dioxide and storing it safely underground.
“Given Australia’s reliance on coal-fired electricity and our abundance of fossil fuels, funding this scientific research into CCS is a sensible investment in the nation’s future.
“Australia has world-leading CCS projects underway as well as developing new processes for converting coal mine methane to energy.”
CO2CRC chief Tania Constable said supporting CCS was an essential component in a portfolio of technologies to tackle climate change.
“The wide-scale deployment of CCS is critical to reduce carbon emissions as quickly and cost effectively as possible,” Ms Constable said.
“This funding will allow CO2CRC to embark on a new program of research to improve CCS technologies.
“In particular, the intention is to lower the costs of developing and monitoring carbon dioxide (CO2) storage sites and build community confidence in geological storage of CO2 as a safe, permanent option for cutting emissions from fossil fuels.”
During the past 10 years the Otway project had injected and stored more than 60,000 tonnes of CO2 in a depleted gas reservoir deep underground, Ms Constable said.
“The new funding acknowledges the project’s significant contribution to advancing CCS technologies internationally as well as the important ongoing role it will play in overcoming the climate change challenge.”
Ms Constable said cash and in-kind contributions from CO2CRC members would match the federal funding, including $10 million from the Australian coal industry’s Coal21 Fund and a $5 million Victorian Government grant announced last September.