Scaling atmospheric carbon dioxide removal in NSW

2023-12-01

Meeting climate goals now requires removing historical emissions from the atmosphere, in addition to rapid and deep decarbonisation – policy is needed to scale this new industry within net zero time frames. Common Capital was engaged by the NSW Office of Energy and Climate Change to investigate the feasibility of different durable carbon removal methods in NSW.

Key takeaways

NSW will need to remove and durably store megatonnes of atmospheric CO2 (potentially between 14Mt and 27Mt) from the atmosphere each year to reach a state of net zero emissions by 2050.
NSW has significant potential for large-scale carbon removal due to its abundant resources and industrial capabilities, though current methods are expensive and require further development.
Scaled deployment of CDR technologies is required to drive learning curves that unlock step change cost reductions (from >$100AUD/tonne today to ~$100AUD/tonne at multi-gigaton scales in NSW).
Policy intervention is required to develop a scalable CDR industry in NSW which can transform carbon removal from a cost to a source of value, contributing to the state’s gross state product and sovereign capability.

Scaling atmospheric carbon dioxide removal in NSW

Key takeaways

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