Environmental groups Climate Justice Taranaki and Taranaki Energy Watch warn that the government’s decision to enable carbon capture, utilisation or storage (CCUS) through new legislation is yet another ‘trojan horse’.

In a media release last week (21/02/2025), Energy and Climate Change Minister Simon Watts announced, “Under our CCUS framework, businesses that capture and store CO2 will be rewarded through the Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS), our Government’s key tool to reducing net emissions.”

Climate Justice Taranaki spokesperson Catherine Cheung responded, “The fossil fuel industry has spruiked CCUS for decades, a ‘trojan horse’ for them to continue business as usual. Over three quarters of all CO2 captured globally is injected into the ground for enhanced oil recovery to force more oil and gas out, to be burnt, increasing emissions. The Gas Industry Company review in 2023 indicates a similar motive.”

To date, there is little evidence that existing CCUS projects are effective in locking away meaningful quantities of CO2 successfully for the long haul. The Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis found that CCS has a long history of failure and underperformance.

“Even the world’s biggest CCS plant run by oil and gas giant Chevron across the Tasman Sea in Australia has been plagued by problems and underperformed badly. Can we really count on companies here to deliver on target?” Cheung asked.

The utilisation part of CCUS is an obfuscation of the supposed role of CCS which is to avoid CO2 emission permanently. Commodity CO2 usage is short-term, meaning that the captured CO2, such as to chill meat and seafood for export or make beer, is released into the atmosphere afterwards. Adding “U” to CCS is a licence for creative accounting.

CCUS is expensive, technologically challenging and requires lots of energy, derived from fossil fuels. Compared to renewable energy development which has continued to grow and come down in price, CCUS operations remain costly and reliant on public funding to the tune of billions of USD.

“The government wants us to believe that subsidising fossil fuel companies to develop CCUS through the ETS would somehow ensure an ‘abundant, affordable’ energy supply and reduce emissions. This clearly ignores the potential of household and community renewable energy systems which are readily available and reducing in price rapidly. It also ignores the role of demand management and the deep flaws of our current electricity market which is heavily profit-driven,” said Cheung.

CCS is a dangerous technology. Aotearoa sits on the seismically active Ring of Fire. There is also the risk of earthquakes induced or triggered by CO2 injection during CCS, especially in Taranaki where hydraulic fracturing (fracking) and deep-well injection of drilling wastes are frequently conducted. Either natural or induced seismicity can weaken CCS infrastructure and cause failure. Many potential CO2 storage locations in old gas fields have been compromised by fracking.

“Just because ‘sufficient reservoir void space exists to receive injected CO2 at the Maui and Kapuni fields’ does not mean that it is safe to do so. The leakage of CO2, an asphyxiant and intoxicant, can cause serious injury or death to workers and nearby communities. The leakage from a CO2 pipeline in Mississippi last year served to reveal the inadequate health and safety regulations for CCS operations,” said Sarah Roberts, spokesperson of Taranaki Energy Watch.

“The risks and danger of allowing CCUS are made worse by the coalition government’s brutal cuts to budget and staff across scientific, research and regulatory institutions and agencies, notably the Ministry for the Environment and WorkSafe. How is the government going to ensure that site characterisation, development and operation of such technologies will be safe at all stages, including post-closure of injection and storage sites?” asked Roberts.

“We are amid resource scarcity and escalating social and environmental crises. The government ought to avoid risky and expensive ventures but prioritise proven technologies and policies that effectively reduce emissions, notably from agriculture and transport. A great deal more resources are also needed for climate adaptation, community wellbeing and ecological restoration,” concluded Cheung.

Sources:

https://www.beehive.govt.nz/release/carbon-capture-one-step-closer

https://ieefa.org/resources/fact-sheet-carbon-capture-and-storage-ccs-has-poor-track-record

https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/the-false-promise-of-carbon-capture-as-a-climate-solution/

https://www.iisd.org/articles/deep-dive/why-carbon-capture-storage-cost-remains-high

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-05-17/chevron-australia-carbon-capture-storage-gorgon-third-capacity/102357652

https://www.mbie.govt.nz/dmsdocument/27264-review-of-ccus-ccs-potential-in-new-zealand-march-2023-pdf

https://350.org.nz/generating-scarcity-report/

https://www.newscientist.com/article/dn21954-earthquake-risk-for-carbon-capture-and-storage-schemes/

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/apr/19/exxon-pipeline-leak-carbon-capture-safety-gaps

https://www.rnz.co.nz/national/programmes/middayreport/audio/2018946212/warnings-over-job-cuts-to-science-sector

https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/522340/worksafe-assures-staff-it-will-be-able-to-do-core-job-despite-cutbacks

https://climatejusticetaranaki.info/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/cjt-sub-mbie-proposals-for-regulatory-regime-for-ccus-6aug24-final.pdf

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