Oz Jemena Proposes Renewable Gas Certification

Australian gas infrastructure firm Jemena is advocating a national approach to green accreditation for renewable gases, such as biomethane and hydrogen, as part of its submission to the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (Arena) Bioenergy Roadmap, it said on May 29.

A certification system would enable customers to purchase verified and accredited zero emission gas as is currently the case for renewable electricity, it said.

Jemena executive general manager, gas distribution, Jennifer Purdie said as Australia looks to recover from the economic impacts of Covid-19, renewable gas could unlock regional jobs, business growth, enhance energy security, and be injected into the network with no impact to customer appliances. 

“Australia has the capacity to be a world leader in zero emission gas. Several green hydrogen gas trials have commenced for domestic and international markets across the nation, including our own Western Sydney Green Gas project, in which the first electrolyser in New South Wales will be installed later this year,” Purdie said. “This technology utilises solar and wind power to create carbon neutral hydrogen gas, which is stored in the Jemena Gas Network, making it accessible to homes, business and the vehicle industry.”

“In addition, we also have the capacity to unlock our bioenergy sector. Well established in Europe, bioenergy is a proven ‘here and now’ fuel source and can help Australia address the energy trilemma of affordability, reliability and sustainability.

“Renewable gases have a huge role to play in lowering emissions in sectors such as heavy transport, manufacturing and our gas networks.”

Jemena said its submission to Arena’s Bioenergy Roadmap has been delivered, along with a letter of support signed by members of the sector as well as industry associations and groups, representing thousands of large and small businesses across Australia.

“In our submission, we have committed to leading the development of a certification system to recognise biomethane as a renewable and net zero emission energy source. Achieving this will kick start projects that can go to market quickly, which will be important as we get back on our feet following the Coronavirus pandemic,” Purdie said.