A new CSIRO report provides valuable information on the potential to lower the costs of sequestration technologies, which in turn could lead to greater uptake.
The CSIRO Sequestration Cost Reduction Workshops Report synthesises a series of expert workshops held to test the potential for technical innovation to reduce costs and increase carbon sequestration uptake across various technologies and approaches.
Growth in carbon sequestration, complementing strong and urgent emissions cuts, is critical to achieving the global goal of net zero emissions by 2050 and net negative emissions in the second half of the century.
The report is part of a two-year project collaboration between the Climate Change Authority, the CSIRO and the Clean Energy Regulator to understand and unlock Australia’s carbon sequestration potential.
More than 60 experts from industry, academia and government advised on innovation options for carbon sequestration approaches from planted vegetation and savanna fire management to direct air capture of carbon dioxide.
Some technologies examined are currently in the early stages of development, costly and not widely used; others are widely deployed, but further expansion of their use would help lower technology costs and support national abatement goals.
Key findings from the workshops include:
- All the sequestration approaches examined in the workshops have technical innovation options available that can lower costs; with less mature technologies (such as direct air capture, biomass/biochar and mineral carbonation) having greater potential for cost reduction and accelerated uptake.
- Innovations in blue carbon could reduce costs by around 40% on current costs.
- Innovations in planted vegetation sequestration could result in cost reductions of approximately 10 to 30%.
- Good opportunities exist to lower the costs of mineral carbonation sequestration, a technology currently in the early stages of development.
CSIRO’s Sequestration Cost Reduction Workshops Report is available here(Opens in a new tab/window).
Read more about the Authority’s carbon sequestration potential project here.