“This puts us in reach of the possibility of eliminating Scope 1, 2 and 3 emissions from natural gas production and use. I believe we are on a path to meet the cost target I have set of $75/t by 2030 for DAC, an order of magnitude lower than average global costs of DAC technology today. “Later this year, we will scale the technology up to build a 1 t/d unit for delivery to Moomba and further trials next year. The trial unit is able to capture a quarter of a tonne of CO 2 per day and will soon be transported to Moomba where it will be optimised. Santos is in the midst of commissioning a DAC technology which it will be trialling in the Cooper basin. “This technology, combined with CCS, holds immense potential for offsetting the emissions from hard-to-abate sectors, including aviation,” he said. Gallagher pointed out that in addition to developing its Moomba CCS project, which would store up to 1.7-million tonnes a year of carbon dioxide (CO 2), Santos is also working on developing DAC technology, which would take CO 2 straight out of the atmosphere. “The industry is ready to invest and we are anxious to work with the government as a matter of urgency in a process to define these opportunities so that Australia is not left behind the US, Europe, Indonesia and Malaysia in the race to build new, low-cost abated gas and other decarbonisation industries.”

“Australia simply cannot afford to turn its back on the gas industry or to shun the opportunity of new, exciting industries such as CCS and synthetic methane which have the potential to deliver the energy transition faster and at lower cost,” Gallagher said. “And because Australia does not yet have the regulatory frameworks in place to offer carbon storage capacity that Japan and Korea need, they are now looking to Indonesia and Malaysia. He told delegates this week that Australia was falling behind the US which is growing both its gas industry and its CCS industry because it understands the ongoing need for abated gas in its own economy and in customer countries in Europe and Asia.

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