Friday 16 July 2021

Australia grants $2m to support heavy industry’s net zero transition efforts

Australia grants $2m to support heavy industry’s net zero transition efforts

The Australian Government is providing up to AUD$2 million (£1.08m) to support the heavy industry's initiatives to reduce emissions and transition towards net zero.

The funding for ClimateWorks Australia will assist in the next phase of the Australian Industry Energy Transitions Initiative (ETI), which brings together key industry stakeholders from hard-to-abate sectors to explore solutions that can help them reduce their emissions across their supply chains and boost long term competitiveness through transitioning to clean energy solutions.

With Rio Rinto and HSBC joining the initiative, the ETI now includes 16 participating companies - BHP, Woodside, BlueScope Steel, BP Australia, Fortescue Metals Group, Orica, APA Group, Australian Gas Infrastructure Group, Wesfarmers Chemicals, Energy and Fertilisers, Aurecon, AustralianSuper, Cbus, National Australia Bank and Schneider Electric.

Together they account for around 21% of Australia's industrial emissions and represent around 24% of the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) market value.

The programme will support the uptake of the next generation of energy technologies, such as green steel, hydrogen and carbon capture, use and storage (CCUS).

The initiative focuses on five supply chains including iron and steel, alumina and aluminium, liquefied natural gas (LNG), other metals such as lithium, copper and nickel and chemicals including plastics, fertilisers and explosives.

These sectors together represent more than a quarter of Australia's annual greenhouse gas emissions and AUD$160 billion (£86bn) in exports every year.

Angus Taylor, Minister for Energy and Emissions Reduction said: “These sectors are key pillars of our economy both as employers of thousands of Australians and significant export earners.

“Investing in the development and deployment of low emissions technologies today will ensure these important sectors can reduce their carbon footprint while supporting Australia's economic growth well into the future.”

Written by

Bruna Pinhoni

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