The Australian Government is supporting new ways to reduce emissions from 'hard-to-abate' industries and tackle residual emissions.
The Carbon Capture Technologies Program (CCTP) will speed up the research, development and demonstration of novel and emerging carbon management technologies. This will address Australia's hard-to-abate industrial emissions and residual emissions.
This is the second round of funding under the Program. CCTP Round 1 supported innovative projects that use emerging carbon capture technologies, such as direct air capture and mineral carbonisation. These will:
- decarbonise hard‑to‑abate industries
- store captured emissions
- convert carbon dioxide into products like building materials, fuels and battery inputs.
$32.6 million will be available to support emerging carbon dioxide capture, use and removal technologies.
Hard-to-abate sectors are industries where reducing emissions is particularly challenging. This is due to the nature of their processes and heavy reliance on fossil fuels. These industries will take longer to cut emissions and often have residual emissions.
Residual emissions stay in the atmosphere even after all efforts to reduce or remove them. They often come from industries or processes that are very difficult to change or stop completely.
These hard-to-abate sectors produce 20 per cent of our nation's greenhouse gas emissions every year.
They include the manufacture of:
- steel
- cement
- fertiliser
- alumina
- plastics.
Carbon management technologies offer a way to capture, remove, store and, in some cases, reuse carbon emissions.
The program will support eligible technologies, including (but not limited to):
- novel carbon capture and/or utilisation technologies for hard-to-abate industrial sectors
- novel carbon dioxide removal technologies
- durable sequestration technologies.
The grant opportunity and guidelines are now available. Applications close 5pm AEST Wednesday 6 May 2026.
