PERTH (miningweekly.com) – The federal government on Friday said that the Emissions Reduction Fund (ERF) continued to grow, with around one-in-six of the 1 074 projects registered this year.

Minister for Industry, Energy and Emissions Reduction Angus Taylor said the ERF was an essential part of the government’s Long Term Emissions Reduction Plan.

“Our plan backs technology not taxes, and choices not mandates. We want to get the cost of low emissions technologies to parity or better, so that Australian households and businesses can adopt them where it makes sense for them to do so.

“The ERF is an integral part of our toolkit. It is a voluntary incentive to support uptake of technologies as they approach commercial parity. At current spot prices, 95% of the 21-million tonnes of ERF abatement contracted since March 2020 will be underwritten by the government at no cost to the taxpayer.

“Unlike a carbon tax, the ERF doesn’t impose new costs on households, businesses or the economy.”

According to the Clean Energy Regulator’s quarterly report, 54 new ERF projects were registered in the September quarter and 145 in the first three quarters of 2021.

This week, a new ERF soil carbon method entered into force. The new method has been under development since late 2020 and will reduce the cost of soil sampling by up to 90%. As at end of November, 104 of the 184 new ERF project registrations in 2021 were soil carbon projects.

Analysis for the government’s Long Term Emissions Reduction Plan shows soil carbon sequestration could reduce Australia’s emissions by between 17-million tonnes and up to 100-million tonnes, while boosting soil health and productivity.

In October, the government announced a new method to support carbon capture and storage (CCS) projects. In response, Santos and Beach Energy committed A$220-million to develop Australia’s first CCS hub at Moomba, South Australia.

The investment will create up to 230 direct jobs and reduce emissions from gas production by 1.7-million tonnes a year, with the hub expected to be operational by 2024.

The supply of Australian Carbon Credit Units is expected to reach a record 17.3-million units this year, up from 16 million in 2020. To date the ERF has delivered more than 100-million tonnes of abatement. 

The report also shows renewable energy accounted for 32% of all electricity generated in the National Electricity Market (NEM) in the September quarter, with rooftop solar driving much of the increase. Australia is on track to see an average of 30% renewable generation in the NEM in 2021.

The Clean Energy Regulator predicts 2021 will be another big year for large-scale renewable energy construction, with 1.1 GW of large-scale projects taking a final investment decision in the September quarter.