THE Bunbury Wellington Economic Alliance has welcomed the announcement of $52 million of funding towards the Collie Hub carbon capture and storage initiative.
The funding will progress preliminary research for the project, including analysis for a potential storage area.
The Collie Hub Project would be the first in Western Australia to provide an underground storage facility for carbon dioxide.
The concept involves capturing CO2 from emissions sources, compressing it into a liquid and pumping it deep below the earth for permanent storage.
It has the potential to reduce emissions by 30 per cent in the South West and by nine per cent across the State.
Alliance Chief Executive Matt Granger said the announcement had taken the amount of confidence in the project to new levels.
“It’s an exciting opportunity for trail-blazing research in the South West on an issue of global significance,” he said.
“The Collie Hub project has resulted from several years of collaboration between major South West industries and the State Government,” he said.
The joint funding announcement was made on Saturday morning in Perth by mines and petroleum minister Norman Moore and his Federal counterpart Martin Ferguson.
The study is expected to take four years.
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