The executive director of the International Energy Agency has called on Australia to become a world leader in carbon capture and storage technology.

Key points: IEA director says government support needed to boost investment in carbon capture and storage

IEA director says government support needed to boost investment in carbon capture and storage Federal Government recently flagged allowing Clean Energy Finance Corporation to invest in the technology

Federal Government recently flagged allowing Clean Energy Finance Corporation to invest in the technology Many in environmental lobby argue CSS is expensive and unreliable

Dr Fatih Birol is in Australia this week and met with Energy Minister Josh Frydenberg in Canberra on Wednesday morning.

Dr Birol said government support was needed to boost investment in that technology, and no country was alone in technological advances.

"In today's world, no country is an energy island — the technology development across the world, they are not very different from one country to another," he said.

The Federal Government has recently flagged it will lift the ban on the Clean Energy Finance Corporation to invest in the technology.

The International Energy Agency (IEA) is an organisation that works with 29 member countries to ensure reliable, affordable and clean energy.

Dr Birol said Australia, which has been an IEA member country for almost 40 years, could play its role by developing carbon capture and storage (CCS) technology.

"In addition to renewable energy efficiency, there is a stronger role to play from CCS," he said.

"But for this there is a need for a greater initiative from countries, maybe such as Australia and others."

Financing technology greatest hurdle for governments

In theory, carbon capture and storage traps up to 90 per cent of carbon dioxide emissions produced from the use of fossil fuels such as coal before storing them underground.

The technology has been used since the 1920s, according to Professor Stuart Haszeldine, a CCS expert at the University of Edinburgh.

Professor Haszeldine said the first challenge for many governments was financing the technology.

"The science and technology and engineering is all there but it always falls over at the financing model because countries find that introducing carbon capture and storage in competition with low-cost renewables is very difficult financially," he said.

Professor Haszeldine said CCS had been successfully used in many parts of the world, and Australia should consider using it.

"[Australia] has to safeguard its own energy security and part of that is being able to use low-cost fossil fuel with the ability to capture carbon wrapped in part of the package," he said.

But many in the environmental lobby are sceptical about CCS and argue it works only in theory and that it is too expensive and unreliable.

John Connor, chief executive of the Climate Institute, said the path to lowering emissions was renewable technology.

"If we're serious about this we need some fair dinkum policies and other support but we have to do that in the context of a national plan," he said.

"I'd prefer Australia being a world leader in responsible action in climate action and that's getting the net zero emissions before 2050 [and that] means phasing out our current stack of coal-fired power stations.

"Carbon capture and storage is going to be important but probably more important actually is helping take carbon out of the atmosphere where it's already at dangerous levels."