Harnessing Australia’s biomethane potential

This content has been funded by an advertiser and written by the Nine commercial editorial team.

This content is produced in commercial partnership with Jemena

There can be no doubt, decarbonising Australia's economy, however noble and necessary, is a considerable challenge.

Our historical reliance on fossil fuels, our immense geography and dispersed population, and the sheer scale of our heavy industry combine to ensure that Australia's admirable ambition to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050 is indeed a high bar to clear.

Renewable gas can be a key player in Australia achieving net-zero emissions by 2050.

Therefore, every possible weapon should be added to our arsenal, in the pursuit of decarbonisation.

Every avenue should be explored, and every capability exploited.

Of course, the renewed push towards electrification, whether it be for households, industry or transport, has some merits.

But electrification is not the only way to decarbonise Australia's economy and way of life.

Linda Cardillo, general manager for renewable gas at Jemena.

The pursuit of that task is far too important than for us to put all our eggs in one basket, and ignore other proven, affordable and available technologies and advancements that will help propel Australia into a new, cleaner energy economy.

There are thousands of Australian industrial companies and manufacturers, committed to reducing emissions, that will remain dependent on gas for the foreseeable future, given the heating, refining and reforming processes required in their operations. That's in addition to the millions of households which rely on gas to heat their homes, cook their food, and provide hot water.

These processes are made possible by gas, particularly its ability to deliver high heat which can't be replicated by electricity. This means plugging them into a power point (i.e. electrifying them) isn't going to work.

The answer to this conundrum is renewable gas.

Gas is changing thanks to the evolution of renewable gases such as green hydrogen (generated using renewable electricity) and biomethane – which is naturally occurring and completely compatible with our existing gas infrastructure and appliances.

It's the future of gas that will not only help realise our net-zero emissions reduction targets, but increase gas supply, empower our manufacturing base, foster energy security, and reduce landfill.

This potential is not a pipe dream, it is here and now.

Both Jemena and Australian Gas Networks are already injecting green hydrogen into their gas distribution networks (blending it with natural gas), while the Malabar Biomethane Project will soon be injecting biomethane into Jemena's gas network.

The project is expected to initially produce around 95 terajoules of gas per year. This volume is equivalent to the gas usage of approximately 6300 homes. Jemena anticipates that, over the demonstration project's four-year trial period, production can be scaled up to produce around 200TJs of biomethane each year – equivalent to the usage of approximately 13,300 homes if put to use in the residential network.

This latter project is of immense value to the future of gas, realising the potential of renewable gas to have a tangible impact on supply and emissions reduction. Giving manufacturers and industrial companies who remain reliant on gas a viable and affordable means to decarbonise their operations.

And to give families the ultimate choice to remain avid users of gas cooking and heating in their homes, without outside pressure to electrify, at significant cost and burden at both a household level, and a system wide level (noting the significant costs associated with building new electricity infrastructure and generation).

The future here is profound, but it requires a profound shift to clear the obstacles that stand in the way of investment, innovation and infrastructure that would establish a viable domestic renewable gas sector.

At the forefront of this shift, is the necessity of a Renewable Gas Target (which would see policy settings established to spur the development of renewable gas production), to provide the impetus for growth and the incentive to change.

This is coupled with the necessity of nationwide biomethane certification to establish its green credentials, and allow consumers to count the use of renewable gas in its emissions reduction endeavours. This option is already available to gas customers in Europe and the United States.

Granted, tentative steps have been taken down this road in Australia. But urgency is now required.

The opportunities for the Australian economy that renewable gas presents are enormous. In its Bioenergy Roadmap (2021), the federal government says Australia has enough feedstock (landfill, waste water, crop residues) to see biomethane account for 23 per cent of the total pipeline gas market by 2030.

If Australia were to realise its broader bioenergy potential, by the start of next decade (2030) it would lift annual GDP by $10 billion, create 26,000 jobs, reduce emissions by 9 per cent and see a reduction of 6 per cent in landfill. Those are the government's own estimates.

The time is now to seize the opportunity at hand, by seriously considering the role of biomethane in the future of our energy system.

Linda Cardillo is general manager for renewable gas at Jemena

This content has been funded by an advertiser and written by the Nine commercial editorial team.

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