Climate Change

Climate change is one of the most significant challenges facing the world today. As the climate changes, we need to change the way we interact with our environment.

Climate is usually defined as the 'average weather' or, more rigorously, as a statistical description of the mean and variability in the weather over a period of time. Therefore, climate change refers to a statistically significant change in either the average weather, or its variability over a period of time.

In 2007, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change in its Fourth Assessment Report concluded that it is "very likely" (more than 90 percent probability) that most of the warming in the past 50 years is due to the observed increase in greenhouse gas concentrations, which has amplified the greenhouse effect.

The greenhouse effect is ordinarily a natural process that traps heat in the atmosphere to create climatic conditions in which humans, plants and animals live. Evidence has shown that human activities, such as the burning of fossil fuels, increase the concentration of greenhouse gases including carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide in the atmosphere. This is known as the 'enhanced greenhouse effect', which causes more heat to be trapped in the atmosphere, resulting in global temperature rises, a rise in sea-level and melting of mountain glaciers and sea-ice.

Climate Q, the Queensland Government's response to the challenge of climate change, highlights the importance of Carbon Capture and Storage and a commitment to accelerating investments to develop and demonstrate the technology.

The International Energy Agency's recently released CCS Technology Roadmap envisions 100 CCS projects globally by 2020. This report says CCS is the only technology available to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions from large scale fossil fuel usage in fuel transformation, industry and power generation.  The IEA says OECD governments will need to increase funding for CCS demonstration projects to an annual level of USD3.5-4 billion from 2010 to 2020.

The IEA Executive Director, Nobuo Tanaka is on record saying:

"Now is the time for CCS.  If we do not develop several large scale integrated CCS demonstration projects within the next decade, we won't be able to deploy the technology in time to prevent CO₂ levels from exceeding allowable limits."

Accelerated deployment of Carbon Capture and Storage is a critical element in global efforts to address climate change and reduce emissions from power generation.

Through its commitment to developing a first-of-a-kind, coal fired low-emission power generation plant, ZeroGen and its partners are demonstrating leadership on a global scale, while at the same time supporting a sustainable future for Australia's $24.4 billion coal industry and the 130,000 jobs it supports.