Funding has been granted by authorities in New South Wales (NSW), Australia, to projects aimed at cutting carbon emissions from the coal industry.

ABC reports that a wide range of initiatives have been funded, including carbon storage research and programmes looking at capturing methane emissions from mines.

This is one in a series of steps that the country has taken to cut carbon emissions, after it shelved plans for a Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme earlier this year.

If implemented, the scheme would have required organisations to purchase permits in order to emit gases into the atmosphere and would have been similar to the Carbon Reduction Commitment in the UK.

Marcus Dawe, chief executive officer at the company GreenMag, which develops carbon mineralisation technology, told the news provider that the technology could significantly cut emissions in Australia.

He said that India and China have already shown an interest in the company’s work, which involves not just storage, but future use of carbon.

“In ten years time, in one plant alone in NSW, we think we can mitigate 20 million tonnes of CO2 a year, which is equivalent to a third of Australia’s car emissions,” he added.