Abby L. Harvey
GHG Monitor
9/4/2015
The Australian government has made available $25 million AUS ($17.6 million USD) in funding for carbon transport and storage research, development, and demonstration projects. Grants under the Carbon Capture and Storage Research and Development Fund are available to industry and research organizations. “Just as we are using science to boost our key economic sectors, investment in research for carbon capture and storage technologies will be important as the coal and gas industries continue to develop both for our domestic use and for export,” Australian Minister for Industry and Science Ian Macfarlane said in a ministry release.
The program seeks to address four specific research priorities: subsurface knowledge and mapping; transport infrastructure, technology, and methodologies; full-chain integration and cross-cutting issues; and the development of international collaboration and partnerships.
While it is requested that research being funded by the program be principally based in Australia, the ministry will “also provide support to leverage international expertise where advantageous,” the release states. “As Australia and our major trading partners continue to use our valuable resources responsibly, further research and development in low emissions energy sources will further strengthen Australia’s role as an energy superpower,” Macfarlane said.
Australia recently committed to reducing its greenhouse gas emissions by 26-28 percent below 2005 levels by 2030 in its Intended Nationally Determined Contribution (INDC) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. The INDCs are specific public commitments made by countries to combat the global issue of climate change. Australia’s INDC, submitted Aug. 11, says the nation “reserves the right to adjust our target and its parameters before it is finalised under a new global agreement should the rules and other underpinning arrangements of the agreement differ in a way that materially impacts the definition of our target.”
Expressions of Interest (EOI) are currently being accepted. EOIs can be submitted online through the Australian Business Account portal and are due by Oct. 16, 2015. Selected EOIs will then move onto the second, invitation-only stage of the grant process.