Confronting today’s energy realities means finding practical ways to reduce emissions while keeping Australian industry competitive. LNG, steel, cement, and other hard-to-abate sectors face the dual challenge of meeting safeguard requirements and remaining cost-competitive in global markets. CCS is central to addressing this challenge. There is no credible pathway to net zero without large-scale storage. But it must be delivered in a way that is efficient, affordable, and investable. The opportunity lies in reducing costs through innovation, sharing them through multi-user hubs, and offsetting them by providing storage technologies and potentially services across sectors and to Australia’s trading partners.

CO2CRC’s Future Research Program 2026–2035 has been designed with this in mind. Drawing on two decades of applied experience at the Otway International Test Centre, the program will collaboratively re-establish Australia’s research capability and deliver the expertise needed to scale geological CO₂ storage (GCS) with confidence. The eight research themes build capability across the full storage system: improving predictive models of plume behaviour; validating geomechanical thresholds to avoid over-conservatism; advancing cost-effective, environmentally responsible monitoring solutions, including offshore M&V; developing basin-scale planning tools for shared hubs; de-risking infrastructure reuse and well integrity; embedding AI and digital twins to accelerate site evaluation; applying techno-economics to guide investment; and rebuilding the skilled workforce and postgraduate pipeline. Together, these activities reduce uncertainty, drive down costs, and create the confidence needed for investment.

For industry, the program will show how GCS can be deployed competitively, while enabling shared hubs and new low-carbon exports. For government and regulators, it provides assurance that projects are predictable and aligned with national policy. And for Australia as a whole, it builds sovereign capability and creates opportunities to export knowledge, technologies, and services across the Asia-Pacific.