Proposed regulatory regime for Carbon Capture, Utilisation, and Storage (CCUS)

About the consultation 

CCUS involves the extraction and capture of CO2 from industrial activity or directly from the air. It is most easily extracted from large point sources, such as the emissions from upstream natural gas extraction and production facilities, power generation, or industrial facilities that use fossil fuels or biomass as fuel. The captured CO2 can be used commercially (eg for dry-ice chilling meat or in greenhouses to promote plant growth) or permanently stored underground. 

A regulatory regime for CCUS would allow industries to access CCUS technology on a level playing field with other emissions reduction and removal mechanisms to better enable a least cost transition towards net zero emissions.

The proposals paper sought feedback on the Government’s proposed approach to enabling CCUS. Specifically:

• How CCUS activities should be treated under the Emissions Trading Scheme;
• What type of monitoring regime should be imposed for CCUS;
• How liability for CO2 storage sites should be managed;
• How the consenting and permitting regimes should work for CCUS;
• Whether there are any barriers to enabling the utilisation of carbon captured.

Submissions

Submissions closed on 6 August 2024 and a total of 54 submissions were received. They represent the view of a wide range of industry organisations, businesses, iwi, and individuals. 

Some personal identifiers have been removed as well as sensitive information at the request of submitters. Some submissions have also not been released at the request of the submitter. 

View the submissions

The Minister for Energy announced the next steps on an enabling framework for CCUS in New Zealand. Read Minister’s announcement:

Carbon capture one step closer(external link) — Beehive.govt.nz

Enabling CCUS is included as a key action in the Government’s second Emissions Reduction Plan (ERP2). 

Second emissions reduction plan released(external link) — Ministry for the Environment

Relevant documents 

The consultation document and further information about the proposals are provided below.

Consultation papers

Post-consultation papers