CCS technology helps to capture charge and securely store carbon dioxide (CO2), paving the way for significantly reducing carbon emissions. But its potential goes even further. By utilising the captured carbon, industries can breathe new life into its properties, transforming it into a valuable resource for industrial processes, free from environmental harm.
Embracing CCS as part of a comprehensive zero-emissions technology is a game-changer for carbon-emitting sectors, including mining. By seamlessly integrating CCS with renewable power generation like solar or wind, we propel large-scale industries closer to achieving net zero emissions.
Industries, such as mining, are steadfast in their commitment to shrinking their carbon footprints. At this critical juncture of our environmental recovery journey, we focus on crafting solutions that drive sustainability without compromising vital export revenues or jeopardising employment and growth within Australia’s economically crucial sectors.
Unlocking the Path to Zero Emissions: Harnessing CCS for the Mining Industry
As the mining sector strives for a greener future, it faces a significant challenge. While renewable power generation is embraced, there remains a crucial need for reliable baseload sources like diesel or gas generators to ensure uninterrupted operations. Expecting mines to solely rely on intermittent renewables in the short to medium term is unrealistic and unprofitable.
To bridge this gap, diesel or gas generators continue to play a role but emit CO2. This is where Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) steps in, capturing and safely storing the CO2 emissions from these generators.
Alternatively, an innovative approach involves replacing generators with a centralised electrical production system, incorporating a CCS hub. This enables large-scale baseload power production, meeting mining demands while minimising emissions.
While the long-term vision revolves around batteries and hydrogen, these solutions are still in their infancy. Implementing CCS offers tangible benefits to the mining industry, swiftly reducing their scope of one and two emissions within two to five years. By acting within the next decade, there’s a window of 15 years for further development, innovation, and testing of technologies like batteries and hydrogen before the 2050 Paris Agreement deadline.
CCS emerges as the catalyst for a sustainable transition, enabling mining and other industries to make significant strides towards zero emissions.
Centralising electrical production
New or developing mine sites where several mines are in proximity to each other, i.e. several hundred kilometres, inevitably incorporate additional facilities including accommodation camps and processing facilities. When a natural gas supply is available, for example, in Australia’s north west and Queensland, new technology efficient gas generation facilities, inclusive of a CCS hub, can be built to centralise electrical production. Several options currently exist in close proximity to some of Australia’s major mining clusters.
An example of where CCS would be a considered advantage is an oxy-fuel gas fired power station.
Burning natural gas in near pure oxygen for electricity production creates an exhaust constituting nearly pure CO2. Because the gas is pure CO2, it is easy and inexpensive to capture and safely inject into an underground formation for permanent storage. This technology effectively captures more than 95% of all the produced CO2. The cost of electricity production using this technology is comparable to current alternatives.
Centralising the combustion of fossil fuels (natural gas); for electrical production into a single point greatly simplifies the capture and storage of CO2. Looking at a 300MWe capacity oxy-fuel gas fired power station with CCS technology replacing decentralised diesel generation across several locations would reduce CO2 emissions by ~1.9 million tonnes per annum.
The Australian mining industry alone consumes an estimated 500PetaJ of energy per year. Forty percent comes from the combustion of diesel for the production of electricity and to power heavy machinery. Replacing this usage alone with electrification via centralised power production incorporating CCS equates to a 2% reduction in Australia’s total emission per annum. This is a significant contribution to reaching the forecasts of the Paris agreement.
CCS Energy is committed to forging your path toward net zero emissions. Our expertise can help clients set realistic targets and tap into additional asset value through carbon offset mechanisms available through various global emission trading schemes. Our team members are CSS experts and well engineers, passionate about identifying efficient and cost-effective transition technology to capture and store carbon, and reduce your operation’s carbon footprint.
With years of technical experience in the petroleum industry, we can provide all aspects of technical design, project management and regulatory administration.
When your business is ready to do its part in reducing its carbon emissions footprint, give our team a call. We only offer the very best solutions and technical expertise.
