Australia invests US$42m in CCS projects tackling hard-to-abate industries

THE AUSTRALIAN government has awarded A$65m (US$42m) worth of grants to carbon capture projects using emerging technologies to reduce emissions from hard-to-abate industries.

The Carbon Capture Technologies Program has handed grants to seven startups focused on reducing CO2 in industry, including cement, steel, oil and gas.

The Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water (DCCEEW) said: “Projects supported under this program will cut emissions from critical industries, directly remove climate-changing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and use carbon dioxide in new manufactured products.”

Low-carbon building materials

The scheme gave the largest pot of funding to environmental technology company Calix, which will use its A$15m investment to build a carbon capture and use (CCU) demonstration plant to produce near-zero emission lime. The material is used extensively in the construction of asphalt pavements, roads, and building foundations.

Calix said it will use the demonstration plant to trial its Leilac technology, which combines electrification with carbon capture, to capture emissions from the lime process to create low-carbon transport fuel for the shipping industry.

In the second phase of the project, the company will use the same technology to develop near-zero emission cement clinker.

Direct air capture and CCU innovation

Funding was also awarded to several companies developing direct air capture technologies, including lithium extraction company Novalith Technologies, which was awarded almost A$10m to further develop its LiCal technology, which produces battery-grade lithium carbonate from CO2 sourced from industry.

Pilot Energy was also awarded A$6.5m for its Mid West Clean Energy Project (MWCEP) based in Western Australia.

The junior oil and gas company aims to capture around 250,000 t/y of CO2 with the project which will, in part, contribute to its carbon storage project.

Pilot Energy will use the grant funding to progress the water processing and direct air capture technology developed by its partner, Capture6.

Brad Lingo, Pilot Energy’s chairman, said: “This A$6.5 million grant allows Pilot to continue to build momentum in the MWCEP following the recent declaration of storage formation and completion of the pre-FEED study.”

Net zero in Australia

The DCCEEW said the carbon capture programme was “crucial” for decarbonising hard-to-abate industries and achieving the country’s Future Made in Australia framework.

The Australian government has committed A$22.7bn to the project over ten years, which includes producing low-carbon liquid fuels (LCLFs) that can be used for heavy industry.