Opportunities for CO2 utilisation in the Northern Territory
Dominic Banfield A * , Anthea Moisi A , Vidip Arora A and Doug Palfreyman AA CSIRO, Clayton, Vic., Australia.
The APPEA Journal 63 S337-S340 https://doi.org/10.1071/AJ22091
Accepted: 13 March 2023 Published: 11 May 2023
© 2023 The Author(s) (or their employer(s)). Published by CSIRO Publishing on behalf of APPEA.
Abstract
The Northern Territory (NT) aims to grow the gross state product to $40 billion by 2030 and reach net zero emissions by 2050. Alongside other carbon abatement approaches, CO2 utilisation technologies have the potential to enable the development of a low-emission manufacturing industry that can support the NT’s decarbonisation and economic growth targets. CO2 utilisation is the process of using CO2, captured from industrial emissions or directly from the atmosphere, to produce valuable products. The Northern Territory is relatively well positioned to deploy CO2 utilisation technologies due to the local established natural gas industry, export links with the Asia-Pacific region and high renewable electricity potential. This report explores the potential to deploy five CO2 utilisation opportunities in the NT: methanol, jet fuel, urea, methane, and mineral carbonates. Techno-economic analysis of the levelised cost of production for each of these products found that they are not cost competitive with conventional products. However, cost reductions are expected as the relevant technologies mature. The full report discusses potential scale-up pathways for each application. Commercial-scale CO2 utilisation will require orders of magnitude increases in the scale of CO2 sources, renewable hydrogen, and renewable electricity. CSIRO is collaborating with industry and government partners to develop a business case for a Northern Territory Low Emissions Hub with a particular focus on carbon capture, utilisation, and storage. This abstract provides the high-level finding from the full public report, which is one input into the development of this business case.
Keywords: carbon capture, utilisation, and storage (CCUS), CO2 utilisation, jet fuel, low-emissions manufacturing, methane, methanol, middle arm sustainable development precinct, mineral carbonates, Northern Territory, urea.
Dominic Banfield is a Manager in CSIRO Futures, the strategic and economic advisory arm of Australia’s national science agency. He has led the successful delivery of major industry development roadmaps, including for Australia's quantum technology and synthetic biology ecosystems. Dominic has also delivered diverse commercial-in-confidence projects for industry and governments, exploring how emerging technologies intersect with their portfolios. He has contributed to projects on diverse topics including hydrogen and energy storage technologies, decarbonisation solutions, low-impact mining, shale gas development, urban transport systems, and research and innovation policy. Dominic has 10 years of professional experience in strategic technology consulting, policy analysis and advocacy, and engineering. Before joining CSIRO in 2019, Dominic worked with the Australian Academy of Technology and Engineering as a policy analyst, exploring technology and innovation challenges in the energy, water, and resources sectors. Dominic holds a Bachelor of Engineering with Honours from RMIT University. |
Anthea Moisi is a Senior Consultant in the CSIRO Futures team. She is focussed on identifying emerging scientific trends and translating these into strategic insights for industry and government clients. Anthea’s work has focussed on opportunities for Australia’s mining and manufacturing sectors as a result of the global transition to renewable energy, as well as emerging low-emission technologies for hard-to-abate industries. She is a co-author of the CO2 Utilisation Roadmap and the Critical Energy Minerals Roadmap. Prior to this role, Anthea was a Management Consultant in the Government Advisory team at KPMG Australia. Anthea holds a Master of Public Policy & Management from the University of Melbourne, with her studies focussed on the intersection of government and industry. She also holds a Bachelor of Science (Genetics) and Bachelor of Global Studies (International Relations) from Monash University. |
Vidip Arora is a Consultant in the CSIRO Futures team. Prior to this role, he consulted in digital strategy and human-centred design at Deloitte Australia. He has delivered projects across utilities, energy and resources, state and federal government, and non-profit industries. Services provided span technology capability assessments, digital strategy, service design, and others at organisation and sector levels. Vidip’s passion lies in contributing to the improvement of social outcomes. He holds a Graduate Diploma of Design with high distinction and Bachelor of Business (Marketing, Banking, and Finance) from Monash University. |
Doug Palfreyman is a Modelling Consultant for CSIRO. He is a leading provider of process simulation, techno-economic modelling and data analysis for several CSIRO Units. This work has included the National Hydrogen Roadmap, a report for Boeing on the ‘Opportunities for hydrogen in commercial aviation’, process and LCA modelling for a Defence client and the CO2 Utilisation Roadmap. Doug has over 40 years of professional experience, including BHP Research, ICI Explosives (now Orica), BHP Engineering, Australian Defence Industries (Now Thales Australia), CSIRO, and Thermoflow. He holds a degree in Chemical Engineering and a post-graduate diploma in Computer Science. |
References
Climate Change NT (2019) Northern Territory Climate Change Response: Towards 2050. Available at https://climatechange.nt.gov.au/nt-climate-change-response/northern-territory-climate-change-response-towards-2050CSIRO (2023) Opportunities for CO2 Utilisation in the Northern Territory (pre-publication). (CSIRO: Canberra).
Minister for Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Local Government (2022) $2.5 Billion infrastructure boost for the Northern Territory. Available at https://minister.infrastructure.gov.au/c-king/media-release/25-billion-infrastructure-boost-northern-territory
NT Government (2022a) Driving a $40 Billion Economy by 2030. Available at https://ntrebound.nt.gov.au/news/2022/driving-a-$40-billion-economy-by-2030
NT Government (2022b) Expand Darwin’s world scale LNG hub. Available at https://territorygas.nt.gov.au/gas-strategy/our-gas-led-growth-story/expand-darwins-world-scale-lng-hub
NT Government (2022c) Renewable energy. Available at https://invest.nt.gov.au/infrastructure-and-key-sectors/key-sectors/renewable-energy
NT Government Department of the Chief Minister and Cabinet (2022) About major projects in the Northern Territory. Available at https://cmc.nt.gov.au/advancing-industry/about-major-projects
NT Government Department of Infrastructure, Planning and Logistics (2022) Middle Arm Sustainable Development Precinct. Available at https://dipl.nt.gov.au/projects/middle-arm-sustainable-development-precinct
NT Government Department of Treasury and Finance (2022) Northern Territory Economy: international trade. Available at https://nteconomy.nt.gov.au/international-trade
Srinivasan V, Temminghoff M, Charnock S, Moisi A, Palfreyman D, Patel J, Hornung C, Hortle A (2021) CO2 Utilisation Roadmap. (CSIRO: Canberra). Available at https://doi.org/10.25919/edad-py60
