Government investing over $330m to lower emissions in industry

The Australian Government has announced it is co-investing over $330 million to support industrial emissions reductions and ongoing domestic production of key inputs into clean energy projects. Grants for nine projects have been announced under the Powering the Regions Fund.

The government says the nine projects will cut yearly emissions by 830,000 tonnes. This equals the same as taking over a quarter of a million cars off Australian roads.

The funding includes $197 million to maintain Australia’s domestic manufacturing capability in cement and aluminium — also helping reduce emissions.

Grants include:

• $94 million to Queensland Alumina Limited to reduce energy use. They will use a more energy-efficient double digestion process in Gladstone, Queensland.
• $52.9 million to Cement Australia to reduce coal consumption. They will increase the use of waste and wood products in Railton, Tasmania.
• $50 million to Adbri to reduce emissions intensity and reliance on imports. They are working on a vertical roller mill to produce cement at Birkenhead, South Australia.
   

These grants are part of the Critical Inputs to Clean Energy Industries program.

A further $134 million will support six decarbonisation projects at trade-exposed facilities covered under the Safeguard Mechanism. The Safeguard Mechanism applies to ‘big emitters’ — those that emit more than 100,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent in a year.

These facilities need to meet their emissions targets but remain internationally competitive. These grants include:

• $44.5 million to Shoalhaven Starches to upgrade heat recovery in Nowra, New South Wales.
• $35.7 million contribution to Murrin Murrin Operations to shift to renewable energy in Western Australia.
• $32.9 million to CSBP Limited to reduce emissions at their Kwinana facility in Western Australia.
• $15 million to Grange Resources to electrify operations at the Savage River Iron Ore Mine in Tasmania.
• $5 million to Grange Resources to modify furnaces to end the use of coal at the Port Latta Iron Pelleting facility (fed by Savage River mine).
• $0.7 million for Liberty Bell Bay to trial replacing coke with locally produced charcoal.
   

These grants are under the Safeguard Transformation Stream.

Image credit: Queensland Alumina.