Work has begun on Australia's first pilot plant using clean coal technology.
The project is a collaboration between CS Energy, JPower, IHI, Mitsui & Co Ltd, Xstrata Coal, the Australian Coal Association and Schlumberger, with federal and state government funding.
The first stage of the $206M Callide Oxyfuel Project, outside Biloela in central Queensland, has started with the refurbishment of the Callide A power station operated by CS Energy.
"We've got a conventional power station and we're burning the coal in pure oxygen, making it easier to capture the carbon dioxide," Queensland Energy Minister Geoff Wilson said.
"It has real potential to reduce greenhouse gas emissions at a typical coal-fired power station by a very large amount."
Federal Resources and Energy Minister Martin Ferguson said that the project will help secure the future of the coal industry.
"It is bread and butter for Australia to actually get carbon capture and storage right because we are a nation that is 80% dependent on coal-fired power stations and that represents 32% of Australia's CO2 emissions," he said.
"So when you think about reducing, in one single power station, 90% of the emissions, you apply it across the nation, then you've got a huge reduction in emissions."
