Petro Georgiou (Kooyong, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

On behalf of the Standing Committee on Science and Innovation, I present the committee’s report, incorporating a dissenting report, entitled Between a rock and a hard place: the science of geosequestration, together with the minutes of proceedings and evidence received by the committee.

Ordered that the report be made a parliamentary paper.

This report makes an important contribution to our knowledge of the science of geosequestration and its potential applications in Australia. Geosequestration, or carbon capture and storage, involves the capture of CO emissions at their industrial source and the transportation of compressed CO to an underground geological site where it is injected and stored for potentially thousands of years. The report recognises the potential of CCS technology to reduce the negative impact of anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions on the global climate. Given that fossil fuels will continue to play a substantial role in power generation in the 21st century, CCS may become an essential mitigating strategy.

The potential of CCS is particularly important for Australia. Australia relies heavily on coal for domestic electricity production and export revenue. In a carbon-constrained world, if Australia is able to demonstrate and commercialise CCS technology it could prove beneficial not only to the environment but to our significant coal industry.

The science of CCS is well understood. Australia has a solid skills base in the fields of geology and engineering, which are essential for CCS. It already has a reputation as a world leader in the development of CCS technology. The major challenge for the science and technology of CCS is its implementation at large—greater than 500 megawatt—coal-fired power stations. The very high volume of emissions from power stations presents the challenge of capturing, transporting and storing CO on a scale that would approximate its future application were CCS to become a genuine mitigation option. The expense of such an endeavour is difficult to establish. The estimates the committee received were wide ranging and the variables that affect the cost are many. While the committee found that Australian industry recognises the potential of CCS technology, without large-scale ventures the costs cannot be further pinpointed.

The report’s central recommendation is for the Australian government to fund one or more major projects to demonstrate CCS at a large coal-fired power plant. Such a project would meet the demands of demonstrating the science of CCS in a large-scale application, furthering our understanding of the cost of CCS and advancing Australia’s already world-leading skills in this area. The committee recommended that this funding take the form of a competitive tender process that would enable the demonstration of desired technologies while minimising government interference in commercial practice.

Australia is endowed with a large number of potentially suitable geological storage locations, many in suitable proximity to major emission sites. It is important that research continues to focus on geological storage. The committee recommends that the Australian government provide funding to CSIRO to progress research into the storage potential for permanent CO sequestration in sedimentary basins in New South Wales. The greatest environmental risk associated with CCS is the potential for CO leakage. This risk can be mitigated through careful site selection and rigorous post-injection monitoring.

It would be remiss of me not to note that there is a dissenting report. Four committee members conclude:

Climate change is a natural phenomenon that has always been with us and always will be. Whether human activity is disturbing to the climate in dangerous ways has yet to be proven.

Their view is that most of the public statements that promote the dangerous human warming scare are made from positions of ignorance. Let me make my position clear. I totally affirm my conclusion, and the committee’s conclusion, that the evidence is compelling and the link between greenhouse gas emissions, human activity and high temperatures is convincing. Equally, I do affirm the right of others to dissent. I have the responsibility of correcting a number of substantially incorrect statements made in the dissenting report and I will be doing this.

I thank the committee secretariat and the committee itself and I particularly thank the member for Franklin for his wisdom and guidance. I commend the report to the House. (Time expired)

Harry Quick (Franklin, Independent) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I welcome the opportunity to speak to the report of the Standing Committee on Science and Innovation Between a rock and a hard place: the science of geosequestration. This report, with its dissenting component, will hopefully generate widespread interest in this topic, along with the ramifications of the five recommendations agreed to by the majority of the committee.

The committee was charged with inquiring into and reporting on the science and application of geosequestration technology in Australia, with particular reference to, firstly, the science underpinning geosequestration technology; secondly, the potential environmental and economic benefits and risks of such technology; thirdly, the skills base in Australia to advance the science of geosequestration technology; fourthly, regulatory and approval issues governing geosequestration technology trials; and, finally, how best to position Australian industry to capture market applications.

The five terms of reference highlight for me the need for all Australians to seek to understand the complexity and importance of the whole issue of geosequestration as it relates to the issue of global warming. No-one can be ignorant of the mounting evidence that shows that human activity is contributing to a dramatic change in global weather patterns. Report after report by the most eminent world scientists have, in my mind, shown this fact to be absolutely conclusive. If we fail to act on this issue, we will jeopardise not only current generations but also those born in the future. One has only to spend a week in China to see at first hand the impact that unbridled industrial development has on the weather patterns of a country and the living conditions of its citizens.

Australia, as the report notes, is between a rock and a hard place. As a nation we have been blessed with an abundance of black and brown coal reserves. We are the largest exporter of coal in the world, and our energy sector is 83 per cent reliant on coal as a cheap source of fuel. As Australians, we are therefore presented with the real challenge of reducing our greenhouse gas emissions whilst remaining so very dependent on coal. As our report states, CCS—or carbon capture and storage—provides a real solution to these competing demands. In a carbon-constrained world, if Australia is able to demonstrate and commercialise CCS technology then it will protect both our environment and our labour-intensive coal industry.

The committee received evidence of the nine CCS demonstration projects currently underway across Australia. These include the CO2CRC project in the Otway Basin to extract naturally occurring CO and methane from the Buttress natural gas well and inject and store 100,000 tonnes of COtwo kilometres below the earth’s surface. In addition, there is the Monash Energy project to build a world-scale coal-to-liquids plant, at a cost of $5 billion, to convert brown coal to ultra-clean, synthetic diesel. A third project is the Zerogen project, managed by Stanwell Corporation, which proposes to build a 100-megawatt plant with capture technology. This project will convert pulverised coal into a synthesis gas, removing COand other gases to produce a hydrogen-rich fuel used to generate electricity.

There is no doubt that Australia possesses the skilled workforce and the technology to be a world leader in the area of geosequestration. What is currently lacking is a national legislative and regulatory framework, and a leadership role by federal, state and territory governments, to ensure that industry is given the support and encouragement to maximise the potential of work currently being carried out here in Australia.

I thank the chair of the committee, my fellow committee members and our dedicated secretariat for their support during the hearing processes. I hope that this report receives the coverage and support it so richly deserves.

David Hawker (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Order! The time allotted for statements on this report has expired. Does the member for Kooyong wish to move a motion in connection with the report to enable it to be debated on a later occasion?

Yes. I move:

That the House take note of the report.

In accordance with standing order 39, the debate is adjourned. The resumption of the debate will be made an order of the day for a later hour this day.