Energy giant Santos says its carbon capture and storage project in the state's far north is a gamechanger for reducing greenhouse gas emissions. The company says it's so far been a success, but experts warn the technology is not the solution to addressing climate change.
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00:00An onshore Australian first, on show.
00:06Santos, in a collaboration with Beach Energy, started its Moomba carbon capture and storage
00:12project known as CCS in October last year and says it's so far been a success.
00:18The project's working design is very successful.
00:21It proves we can do carbon capture and storage at scale.
00:24CO2 is captured from the gas plant where water is removed.
00:29The carbon is compressed into liquid, transported and stored in old oil and gas reservoirs.
00:35This state government is an ardent supporter and believer in the role that natural gas
00:40has to play in the decarbonisation of our economy more broadly, but also to underpin
00:45the industrialisation of our nation.
00:47A 2023 report by the UN Environment Programme says that while CCS has a role to play in
00:53hard to transition industries, businesses shouldn't rely on it solely, labelling it
00:59a largely unproven and relatively costly technology.
01:03Some energy experts saying it's doing little in the fight against climate change, describing
01:08it as a drop in the ocean.
01:10Carbon capture and storage has been around for 50 years, but all it's managed to capture
01:15at the moment globally is 10 million tonnes and as I said, Australia pumps about 500 million
01:22tonnes into the atmosphere each year.
01:24Santos says while the Moomba CCS qualifies for carbon credits, other projects wouldn't.
01:29It's something the company wants to change.
01:32I'm not asking for subsidies or grants to do that, we'll do it on our own back and we
01:37just want to get the regulations and the approvals in place so we can do it.
01:41We support gas, we'll continue to support gas, there will be regulation, but we'll try
01:46and ensure that regulation enables all of the potential opportunities to decarbonise.
01:53The government says while carbon capture and storage is part of the plan, other technologies
01:58like hydrogen are needed to help reduce carbon emissions.