The new facilities, including laboratories for CCS geochemistry and carbon capture chemical engineering, basin attribute modelling, 3D visualisation, seismic networks and dynamic simulation, will be built, maintained and operated by The University of Melbourne. The University’s Peter Cook Centre for CCS Research will offer two new professorial positions to work in the labs.
The infrastructure contract announced today is part of the $86 million CCSNET project established between the Cooperative Research Centre on Greenhouse Gas Technologies (CO2CRC) and the Commonwealth Department of Education in August 2013 under the Education Investment Fund (EIF) for large-scale CCS Flagship projects. The EIF is providing $51.6 million.
The University of Melbourne’s Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research), Professor James McCluskey, said the new laboratories would support national and international work to enhance CCS as a technology for tackling climate change. “With support from the CCSNET project, the University of Melbourne is able to make a significant contribution to advancing CCS technology,” Professor McCluskey said.
“The University aims to become a world leader in developing innovative and more cost efficient CCS methods and, more broadly, establish Australia as a world leader in the technology. This investment will allow us to make great strides toward this goal.”
CO2CRC CEO Dr Richard Aldous said he was delighted to see CO2CRC’s plan for investment in national CCS research infrastructure starting to come to fruition. “The Commonwealth funding is important for building new capability in CCS through a network of field facilities, onshore and offshore monitoring systems and world class laboratories,” Dr Aldous said.
“CCS is the only technology that can achieve substantial cuts in emissions from industrial-scale use of fossil fuels. So as the need for action on climate change becomes more pressing, Australia must be ready to deploy CCS technology.”
CCSNET primarily supports Victoria’s CarbonNet Project, which is funded under the CCS Flagships program, although the facilities are available for other Australian CCS projects and, potentially, international collaborators. The CCS Flagships Program enables demonstration of large-scale integrated CCS projects in Australia, with the aim of widespread deployment of the technology from 2020.
“The University of Melbourne’s new infrastructure will benefit all CCS projects and, through improved processes and lower costs, increase the momentum for its global implementation,” Dr Aldous said.