Hydrogen Energy Supply Chain
Sam HIBBINS (Prahran) (14:19): My question is for the Minister for Trade and Investment, and it is in relation to the HESC brown-coal-to-hydrogen project. Minister, why on earth is the government continuing to support a project that would prolong the use of fossil fuels in Victoria and add to our state’s carbon emissions during a climate crisis?
Tim PALLAS (Werribee – Treasurer, Minister for Industrial Relations, Minister for Trade and Investment) (14:20): I thank the member for Prahran for his question. When we do math, we do not get to the answer first – we go through each line. We are going through a process. It is called due diligence. It is about checking the environmental sustainability of the technology. It is about making sure that we are satisfied around the way that this technology could be deployed and applied, and it is about making sure that the interests and the welfare of the Victorian people and the environment are first and foremost in our consideration. So as a government we will continue to work through the issue to view this matter in an appropriate and considered way. I will make a point to the member for Prahran – it is not just the Victorian government who are doing the math on this. It is not just the Victorian government that are looking at the implications to our environment and to the wellbeing of Victoria and its economy – it is also the Japanese government. It is also the Australian government. We are going through due diligence because you do not get to the answer until you have done the math.
Sam HIBBINS (Prahran) (14:21): Within this project, in order to deal with the massive amounts of carbon emissions that it would produce, the project is relying on carbon capture and storage. The reality is the maths is in on carbon capture and storage: it does not work. So why is the government continuing to pretend that carbon capture and storage actually works –
Members interjecting.
The SPEAKER: Order!
Sam HIBBINS: Why is the government continuing to pretend that carbon capture and storage will actually work when it has not been found to be remotely viable at this scale anywhere in the world?
Paul Edbrooke interjected.
The SPEAKER: Order! Member for Frankston!
Tim PALLAS (Werribee – Treasurer, Minister for Industrial Relations, Minister for Trade and Investment) (14:22): Once again, that was not so much a question as a profession of faith. So far as we are concerned as a government, the fact is that carbon capture and storage is an issue that the government will be looking to as part of that due diligence. Apparently those opposite – the Greens – have already worked out the answer despite the fact that around the world there are a countless number, something like 40, of these operations in effect at the moment. So we are not getting ahead of ourselves. We will let the science dictate the outcome and we will make sure that we have confidence both in the technology for carbon capture and storage and, might I say, the broader technologies that are required to be applied in what is an incredibly complex program. As a government, let me assure you that our principal concern will be about the environmental effectiveness of these strategies. We aim for net zero as part of this process.