PERTH (miningweekly.com) – The CEO of energy infrastructure company Jemena has called for a renewable gas target as a crucial step in achieving net zero emissions in Australia by 2050

CEO Frank Tudor said that a renewable gas target would spur the development of renewable technologies in the electricity sector.

“This is the jump-start the gas sector needs to truly commercialise zero-emission gases such as hydrogen and biomethane and make them available to Australian homes and businesses at scale,” Tudor said at the Australian Energy Week Conference, in Melbourne.

He said that by deploying renewable gas using existing infrastructure to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050, Australian energy consumers would also avoid costly, and unnecessary, upgrades to the energy sector.

“By decarbonising our existing gas infrastructure we can avoid unnecessarily building new alternative forms of energy infrastructure, which will have a significant impact on customer bills.

“In the short term this will make the transition to a low-carbon future seamless and means Australian homes and businesses can continue to use their gas stoves, heaters, and other appliances.

“From 2050, conservative estimates suggest Australian energy consumers can save anywhere between A$12-billion to A$14-billion per annum by simply using existing gas infrastructure to decarbonise our economy.”

Tudor said a subsidy in the order of $3/GJ to A$15/GJ could facilitate the entry of significant amounts of renewable gas into Australia’s gas networks, and is much less than the subsidy offered under the renewable energy target (RET) to the electricity sector, which was the equivalent of A$22/GJ.

“We believe a renewable gas target could see up to 9 PJ of zero-carbon gas injected into Jemena’s New South Wales gas distribution network by 2030. This would remove around 464 000 t of carbon from the atmosphere each year, the equivalent of over 200 000 cars, and help New South Wales achieve a 10% renewable gas target.

“Our initial analysis has found that this can be done at an estimated cost of around A$15 for a typical New South Wales household.

“A renewable gas target will also give confidence to those hard to abate sectors, such as the manufacturing sector, which rely on gas as a fuel stock, that they will be able to continue operating in Australia while decarbonising their supply chains.

“Renewable gases can also be used in the transport sector, particularly by larger vehicles such as buses and haulage vehicles. At the same time, we believe renewable gas will also provide firming power to intermittent renewable generation, particularly as hydrogen-fuelled power stations are developed.”

Jemena’s call follows the federal government announcing a A$58.6-million investment in the last Budget into new measures to advance its gas-fired recovery in a post Covid-19 economy.

The new measures include a A$38.7-million investment for targeted support of critical gas infrastructure projects to alleviate the forecast gas supply shortfall, a well as A$3.5-million to design and implement the Future Gas Infrastructure Investment Framework to support the Commonwealth’s consideration of medium- to long-term critical gas projects identified by future National Gas Infrastructure Plans.