Another 9 million US dollars went to the global sustainable energy company Energy Developments Pty Ltd, which will capture carbon dioxide from waste streams from biomethane production in landfills. EDL will use the captured carbon dioxide in cement hardening, which strengthens the concrete and means that less cement is needed, thereby reducing the carbon footprint.
Construction products maker Boral received $ 2.4 million for a pilot project using captured carbon dioxide to improve the quality of recycled concrete, masonry and steel slag at its Berrima, NSW facility.
The new global CCU industry could capture around 10 percent of current annual global greenhouse gas emissions by 2030.
Industry developments and the low-emission potential to turn waste into value prompted the establishment of a CCU think tank in Canberra in 2019. Australian startups and researchers teamed up with the Australian National University and chemical giant Orica Limited to create CO2 Value Australia to develop Australian CCU.
Shortly thereafter, CO2 Value Australia signed a letter of intent with the world’s leading companies in the field, with CO2 Value Europe being CVE’s first such collaboration outside of Europe.
Economist and former Labor Secretary Craig Emerson has highlighted the carbon opportunities for Australia in his regular column in The Australian Financial Review. While he well outlined the potential for Australian industry and agriculture in capturing and storing carbon dioxide, he made no mention of converting the gas into products.
Dr. Emerson is forgiving because, although CCU has been actively developed in the EU and US for a decade, it is not widely known in Australia. However, it was featured as an emerging technology in the government’s first technology investment roadmap last year, and was mentioned again in the prime minister’s announcement of the Japan-Australia partnership on decarbonization through technology.
CO₂ has been used directly as a raw material for years, for example in the carbonation of soft drinks, but international studies estimate that the new global CCU industry will be worth nearly $ 6 trillion ($ 8 trillion) a year and about 10 percent of current annual global greenhouse gas emissions by 2030.
CSIRO completes a six-month study of carbon dioxide consumption to track its work, which has been incorporated into the national hydrogen roadmap. In March, CSIRO said that applying CCU to our resource and manufacturing sectors was a win-win, creating commercial opportunities for industry while also playing a role in reducing carbon emissions.
CSIROs will be the first independent study on CCU potential in Australia. CO2 Value Australia is sponsoring this study and is eagerly awaiting its results in July.
CCU fits in well with the G7’s path to net zero. In their communiqué in Cornwall, the G7 leaders called on all countries to make ambitious commitments under the Paris Agreement, saying: “To be credible, ambitions must be supported by concrete action across all sectors of our economy and society. We will lead a technology-driven transition to net zero, following the International Energy Agency’s clear roadmap and prioritizing the most pressing and polluting sectors and activities. “
John Beever is chairman of CO2 Value Australia and co-founder of CCU technology developer Mineral Carbonation International.
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