The federal government has allocated $500,000 for an Asia-Pacific gas market growth project as part of a recent $60 million funding commitment under the Asia-Pacific Partnership on Clean Development and Climate (AP6).

Another 41 projects have received in-principle funding to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and assist the development of renewable energies as part of Australia’s contribution to the AP6.

Prime Minister, John Howard, said AP6 involves Australia, China, India, Japan, South Korea and the United States, representing about half of the world’s emissions, energy use, GDP and population. “It is an important initiative that engages, for the first time, the key greenhouse-gas emitting countries in the Asia-Pacific region,’ he said.

“The Partnership is committed to addressing the challenges of climate change, energy security and air pollution in a way that encourages economic development and reduces poverty.”

APPEA Chief Executive Officer, Belinda Robinson, welcomed the announcement that the gas market growth project has been endorsed as a major initiative under the AP6 umbrella. “This announcement highlights AP6 as an innovative and practical approach to involve the world’s biggest greenhouse gas emitters in tackling climate change – something that no other international initiative has been able to do”, Robinson said.

She said APPEA is confident the gas market growth project will make a significant contribution through encouraging greater use of less greenhouse intensive natural gas. “The goal of the project is to increase the utilisation of natural gas within the Asia‑Pacific region to enhance energy security, reduce air pollution, lower greenhouse gas emissions and boost economic growth.

“The development and deployment of lower emissions technologies will be key to delivering clean development and climate outcomes associated with fossil fuel use. Natural gas, along with clean coal and renewable energy, can play a central role in the transition to a low emissions future for AP6 countries, provided that the demand for natural gas is not limited by constraints within gas markets and delivery systems.”

Robinson said the Asia-Pacific thirst for energy is growing at 3.2% per year and the gas project will seek to ensure that a significant part of that growth will be met by low greenhouse-emitting natural gas.

“APPEA has strongly supported the AP6 initiative. Work on the project can now commence in earnest, with the results – a detailed Asia-Pacific Gas Market Growth Plan – to be delivered in 2007”, she said.

The inaugural meeting of AP6 was held in Sydney in January this year. Since then the governments, industry and research organisations from the Partnership have worked collaboratively to develop action plans
and projects.

Eight task forces covering cleaner fossil fuels, renewable and distributed energy, power generation and transmission, aluminium, buildings and appliances, cement, coal and steel have worked together to develop climate change strategies for their sectors in a very short time frame.

Other projects focusing on cleaner fossil energy to receive funding include: $8 million to carry out testing of the CSIRO’s mobile Post Combustion Capture plant under various conditions to develop the technology for commercial application; $5 million for CO₂ enhanced coal bed methane and $3 million for CO₂ capture and storage programme.

On the renewable energy front, $5 million has been allocated to support the pilot of solar concentrator photovoltaic technology and facilitate planning and approval processes for deployment of the power stations across Partnership countries, in particular China and the United States.

A booklet summarising the Partnership action plans and the projects is available online at www.asiapacificpartnership.org or
www.dfat.gov.au/environment/climate/ap6