Australia has announced a new $220 million carbon capture and storage (CCS) hub in South Australia amid outcries for the technology to be scrapped altogether. The Australian government has lauded CCS as a critical pathway for reducing emissions in emissions-intense industries, such as energy, whereby emitted carbon dioxide is captured and piped into naturally formed underground reservoirs. The hub, situated in Moomba in far north South Australia, two hours from the Queensland border, forms a joint venture between oil and gas giants Santos and Beach Energy. “This carbon reduction project in the South Australian outback will be one of the biggest and lowest cost in the world and will safely and permanently store 1.7 million tonnes of carbon dioxide per year in the same reservoirs that held oil and gas in place for tens of millions of years,” Santos CEO, Kevin Gallagher said. The hub was even exhibited at the front …