The Australian Government is supporting new ways to capture carbon dioxide and put it to use, to help reduce emissions from hard-to-abate industries and advance Australia's net zero transformation.
Through the Carbon Capture Technologies Program (CCTP), the government is investing $65 million in 7 projects that will use emerging technologies like direct air capture and mineral carbonisation to decarbonise hard-to-abate industrial processes and directly remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.
Captured carbon dioxide will be stored in permanent geological storage or used to create products like:
- building materials
- fuel
- inputs for lithium-ion batteries.
Projects supported under this program will cut emissions from critical industries, directly remove climate-changing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, and use carbon dioxide in new manufactured products.
The $65 million Carbon Capture Technologies Program is providing:
- $15 million to Calix Ltd to produce methanol from carbon dioxide released during cement production.
- $14.5 million to MCi Carbon Pty Ltd to produce building materials from carbon dioxide released during cement production.
- $11.7 million to Airthena Technology Development Company Pty Ltd to demonstrate the feasibility of large-scale direct air capture of carbon dioxide.
- $9.9 million to Novalith Technologies Pty Ltd to demonstrate the production of battery-grade lithium carbonate from carbon dioxide captured directly from the atmosphere.
- $6.5 million to Pilot Energy Limited to trial the management of multiple carbon dioxide streams from emerging point sources and direct air capture technologies.
- $5.4 million to KC8 Capture Technologies Ltd to demonstrate the production of potassium carbonate from carbon dioxide released during cement production.
- $1.6 million to the University of Melbourne to trial the conversion of carbon dioxide captured from the atmosphere into travertine, a carbonate rock.
Decarbonising hard-to-abate industries is crucial to achieving net zero and for a Future Made in Australia.
These are exciting opportunities to develop new economic opportunities for Australia.
