The federal government has announced $91 million in grants for emissions reduction projects through the Powering the Regions Fund to companies including Incitec Pivot, Viva Energy Australia and the owners of the Boyne Aluminium Smelter.
In a statement on Friday from ministers Ed Husic and Chris Bowen, it was said that the projects would lead to cumulative cuts of more than a million tonnes of climate pollution annually, and would be matched by two dollars of industry spend per every dollar of support.
Incitec Pivot was awarded two grants: $28,000,000 for Incitec Pivot Fertilisers and $9,878,085 for its Dyno Nobel explosives subsidiary.
The latter amount supports a project at the Moranbah facility, reducing “nitrous oxide emissions in ammonium nitrate production by a catalytic emissions reduction reactor and deployment of purge gas capture technologies”.
Boyne Smelters – a joint venture between Rio Tinto, YKK Aluminium, UACJ Australia, and Southern Cross Aluminium – was awarded $5,482,199 for a project at the Boyne Island, Queensland aluminium smelter.
This will improve the energy efficiency of a carbon bake furnace, which produces anodes for the site.
Kestrel Coal was awarded $37,225,566 for works at its mine in Queensland’s Bowen Basin. This will demonstrate a technology at scale for the first time in the nation, “using Regenerative Thermal Oxidation technology to abate Ventilation Air Methane from an underground metallurgical coal mine”.
“The grants unlock technologies that have not been deployed at scale in Australia, including cutting methane from the ventilation air shafts of underground coal mines,” said Bowen, adding that the industries in question had traditionally been hard to abate.
“A number of the projects cut nitrous oxide, which has 265 times more warming potential than CO2. By demonstrating these technologies, they can more quickly be rolled out across Australian industry.”
The grants follow an April announcement of $330 million via nine grants through Powering the Regions. This included $200 million to the nation’s two steelmakers — Bluescope and Liberty Steel — to upgrade the companies’ Port Kembla and Whyalla sites.
Picture: Boyne Aluminium Smelter (credit Rio Tinto)
Further reading
BlueScope to invest $1.15 billion, retain sovereign steelmaking
Government announces $200 million for “clean, green Aussie made steel”