The Australian Financial Review co-hosted the July 2022 Energy Solutions roundtable with Jemena and Australian Gas Networks on how the nation can speed up our energy transition.
Although usage of biomethane and renewable hydrogen gas is still relatively low across Australia, industry proponents point to the massive role these gases can play in the nation’s energy future.
With clear targets set for carbon reduction in coming years, both businesses and consumers are looking for alternatives. Increasingly, these will come in the form of renewable gas.
Chief executive of Bioenergy Australia, Shahana McKenzie, says biomethane is a particularly promising energy source as burning it is far better than simply letting it escape into the atmosphere.
“If you look at capturing methane and burning it, it’s 20 times better than letting it go,” she says. “You are looking at gas from wastewater treatment plants, abattoirs, piggeries, dairy processing facilities and food manufacturing sites.
“When people are talking about biomethane and asking whether it is really renewable, they have to consider whether they would prefer it going into the atmosphere. Of course you wouldn’t.”
McKenzie points out, however, that while biomethane is a strong source of energy, it will never provide all that a country like Australia requires.
“The electricity network is not being decarbonised by one source of renewable electricity,” she says. “It is going to take a number of different options in order to be able to do that, so I think creating an environment where there is the ability for those to be able to work together is really important.”
Gabrielle Sycamore, general manager for renewable gas at Jemena, points to the significant amounts of time and money being invested in research and development as further evidence of the strong potential for renewable gas both in Australia and around the world.
“Bioenergy Australia’s renewable gas working groups and Future Fuels are doing a lot of work on the technical challenges and what we need to be thinking about when it comes to Australian standards,” she says. “This is important when you bring technology in from Europe and the United States, and then make it work in an Australian context.”
McKenzie says bioenergy can be an effective replacement for all fossils which makes its development particularly exciting. It also raises the need for a detailed road map to guide development and adoption across the nation.
“We advocated for the development of Australia’s bioenergy road map that identified three priority pathways,” she says. “The first is decarbonisation of the gas network which shows that 23 per cent of Australia’s domestic gas use could be delivered by biomethane by 2030.
“The second is that 19 per cent of aviation fuel and 33 per cent of industrial heating could be delivered in the same timeframe.”
The Financial Review energy roundtable participants also discussed the role that green hydrogen will play in coming years. Used alongside biomethane, it will provide a carbon-free energy source that can be delivered over existing distribution networks. It is also generated using energy from renewable sources.
Sycamore says while some infrastructure investment will be required, much is already in place. She says that, according to industry evaluations, in NSW at least 80 per cent of the distribution network is already hydrogen-ready. This is even higher in parts of AGN’s distribution networks in South Australia and Victoria.
Matthew Warren, Boardroom Energy principal, says the full potential of renewable gas will be experienced in Australia in coming years, but it will require a mix of gases and delivery technologies.
He says much of the discussion tends to be around whether to choose one type of energy or another, but the real answer tends to be somewhere in the middle.
“We need to recognise that each solution has a part to play and that all are integrated,” he says. “At the end of the day, there are very few things that are absolutely wrong, so long as you are decarbonising.
“So, if you can get the debate back to where people recognise there is potentially more than one solution across the whole spectrum of what we’re trying to achieve, then you’ll get better debates.”
McKenzie says this polarisation needs to be overcome if the full potential of renewable gases is going to be achieved in Australia.
“One of the challenges with the last government was that they (attempted to) pick winners,” she says. “By trying to pick winners, you were choosing what the path was going to be successful and you were backing that. My message to this current government is ‘don’t do that’.
“As history has told us, some will work out and some will not. You need to accelerate those that do look like they’re going to have runs on the board.”
This article was written by Ian Grayson on the 14th of July 2022 for The Australian Financial Review and was sponsored by Jemena and Australian Gas Networks.
https://www.afr.com/companies/energy/picking-winners-could-be-a-losing-game-20220711-p5b0uw