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 seeks feedback on the Government’s proposed approach to enabling CCUS. The paper seeks feedback on:

• 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.

Relevant documents 

The consultation document and further information about the proposals to support your submission are provided below.