International energy and technology expert Brendan Beck has been named APPEA’s new Director of Net Zero Technologies.
In a statement, APPEA said the appointment underlines the oil and gas industry’s focus and expanding the work program on emissions reduction and strategies to utilise gas in a cleaner energy future.
Beck, who has previously held key positions at the World Bank and the International Energy Agency, will concentrate on critical climate change mitigation technologies such as carbon capture, utilisation, and storage (CCUS) and clean hydrogen.
Beck said technology development and deployment are essential to reaching Australia’s and the world’s climate mitigation ambitions.
“The Australian oil and gas industry is already at the forefront of deploying the step-change technologies needed to reach net zero, including clean hydrogen and CCUS. This experience, combined with world-class energy and CO2 storage resources as well as strong commercial partnerships, means APPEA members will play a pivotal role in reaching a cleaner energy future,” Beck stated.
According to him, clean hydrogen, produced using natural gas and CCUS, is now by far the least expensive option to low-carbon hydrogen, providing substantially more ’emissions reductions-bang for your buck’ than alternative pathways.
He added that APPEA members are also pioneering the development of renewable-based hydrogen, scaling up the technology while driving down prices.
“The sector is on par with the United States, Canada and Norway in the development and deployment of CCUS technologies, with Chevron’s Gorgon project in Western Australia representing the largest CCUS project anywhere in the world and the CO2CRC Otway project, one of the longest running CCUS research projects. Santos and Beach Energy’s Moomba project is under construction in South Australia with the pipeline of CCUS projects in Australia continuing to grow,” Beck said.
Beck stated that clean hydrogen and CCUS are key technologies for decreasing emissions throughout the oil and gas supply chain and will also be critical for reaching net zero emissions across the whole economy.
“Hydrogen and CCUS are widely seen, including by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and the IEA, as key technologies for reducing emissions in many hard-to-abate industrial sectors such as cement, steel and chemical production, where emissions from high-temperature heat and industrial processes cannot be addressed through electrification,” he added.
According to him, CCUS is crucial to large-scale negative emissions, both through direct air capture with carbon storage (DACCS) and bioenergy with CCUS, both of which will be critical to reaching net zero by addressing residual emissions elsewhere in the economy, such as agriculture.
“Australian companies being able to offer ‘CO2-storage-as-a-service’ will also be important regionally, with APPEA members well placed to support key Australian trading partners, such as Japan and South Korea, to decarbonise their economies while adding additional value to Australian resources, creating and protecting jobs and continuing to contribute into the Australian economy,” he added.
Beck joins APPEA from the World Bank, where he was a key figure in building CCUS initiatives in Nigeria, South Africa, and other countries, according to APPEA.
Beck formerly worked at the International Energy Agency, where he focused on road mapping the role of CCUS in global climate mitigation efforts and informing the development of CCUS legal and regulatory frameworks around the world.
According to APPEA Chief Executive Samantha McCulloch, the appointment increased the industry’s clout in developing emissions reduction technology and demonstrated how seriously the sector regarded its responsibility.
“As a major investor in emissions reductions technologies including CCUS and renewables, the oil and gas industry is committed to net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. With gas having a wider role in the future, Brendan’s work will be important in examining the different ways gas and the technologies the industry excels in can accelerate emissions reductions,” McCulloch stated.
McCulloch added that Beck would be a significant voice in the sector, and his work at the World Bank and the IEA will equip APPEA members with essential insight at the forefront of the world’s policy and technology issues to achieve net zero emissions.
