Coal-generation CO2 dumps not viable in Australia; projects need a US$25-30/t carbon-price, as trigger, finds House of Representatives Standing Committee

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The Australian National Generators Forum told the Australian Federal House of Representatives Standing Committee on Science and Innovation that “at this early stage of development, the investment risk of new coal based technology with carbon capture and storage is large”, according to the Committee’s report Between a rock and a hard place: The science of geosequestration.

Incentives required: The Forum said that Stanwell Corporation’s analysis indicated “that the capture and storage of CO2 produced in electricity generation is not economically viable in Australia at this time.” Industry submissions overall signalled that economic incentives needed to be in place for CCS technology to be invested in by energy producers. The Energy Supply Association of Australia (ESAA) noted that: “… given CCS is at a clear cost disadvantage to existing generation technologies, carbon emission constraints are the only reason CCS technologies would be adopted by the energy supply industry.”

CCS pays at US$30 per tonne of CO2: Members of the AP6 and the Australian coal industry were also “calling for a carbon price signal to support the technology approach to abating and mitigating greenhouse gas emissions.” According to the IPCC: “Most energy and economic modelling done to date suggests that the deployment of CCS systems starts to be significant when carbon prices begin to reach approximately 25-30 US$/t CO2 … [this modelling suggests that] the large-scale deployment of CCS systems [will begin] within a few decades from the start of any significant regime for mitigating global warming.”

Reference:Between a rock and a hard place: The science of geosequestration. House of Representatives, Standing Committee on Science and Innovation, August 2007, Canberra. Committee Chair, Mr Petro Georgiou MP. Phone: (02) 6277 4419 or the Deputy Chair, Mr Harry Quick MP. Phone: (02) 6277 4304. For information: contact the Commettee Secretary. Phone: (02) 6277 4150. Issued by: Liaison and Projects Office, House of Representatives. Phone: (02) 6277 2392. Copies of the report can be obtained from the website: http://www.aph.gov.au/house/committee/scin/geosequestration/index.htm

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