CANBERRA—The CSIRO has achieved a major breakthrough for Australia by capturing carbon dioxide (CO2) from power station flue gases, it's energy technology chief says.
Trapping CO2 is a significant stage in the global quest to prevent greenhouse gases amassing in the upper atmosphere and generating global warming.
The landmark was achieved at the post-combustion-capture (PCC) pilot plant at Loy Yang Power Station in Victoria's Latrobe Valley.
CSIRO Energy Technology chief Dr David Brockway said the milestone followed the Garnaut report's recognition that Australia had an important role to play in developing low emission coal technologies such as PCC.
"PCC uses a liquid to capture CO2 from power station flue gases and can potentially reduce CO2 emissions from existing and future coal-fired power stations by more than 85 per cent," he said in a statement.
"Coal is the primary fuel for over 80 per cent of Australia's current power supply - it's what turns the lights on in most homes. So, we need to find ways to make it a cleaner energy source.
"This is the first time anyone in the Southern Hemisphere has captured CO2 using the PCC process at a power station and we are thrilled we've been able to prove this technology," Dr Brockway said.
He said the 10.5 metre-high pilot plant was designed to capture up to 1,000 tonnes of CO2 per annum from the power station's exhaust-gas flues.
Future trials are to involve the use of a range of different CO2-capture liquids.
The achievement follows the first successful storage of 10,000 tonnes of CO2 deep underground at Australia's first carbon capture and storage project, in Victoria's Otway Basin.
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