House of Representatives inquiry on Geosequestration Technology
On Thursday 22 June 2006, the House of Representatives Standing Committee on Science and Innovation was asked to inquire into and report on geosequestration technology. The Committee’s final report Between a Rock and a Hard Place - the Science of Geosequestration
was released on 13 August 2007. The report made five recommendations to encourage the uptake of CCS in Australia. The Government is currently preparing a response to this report.
Initiatives
A number of domestic and international initiatives are currently underway to progress CCS projects. These include the Australian Coal Association’s Coal21 Program, a partnership between the coal and electricity industries, governments, researchers and unions to reduce or eliminate greenhouse gas emissions from coal-based electricity generation in Australia. Coal21 is currently investigating a variety of technologies, including CCS.
A number of government and research partnerships have also undertaken CCS-related research including the Cooperative Research Centre for Greenhouse Gas Technologies (CO2CRC) which has developed a Technology Roadmap for both capture and geological storage of carbon dioxide and is responsible for developing the Otway Basin Pilot Project. The CO2CRC is also carrying out studies to build on the key findings of the Geological Disposal of Carbon (GEODISC) program which was conducted in 1999-2003 and put Australia at the forefront in identifying and mapping sites suitable for the geological storage of carbon dioxide.
Current CCS projects in Australia
Several CCS projects have been proposed in Australia.
The Otway Basin Pilot Project is a research and development project in Victoria that is the first demonstration of deep geological storage or geosequestration in Australia. The Otway Basin Pilot Project is endorsed by the Carbon Sequestration Leadership Forum as a project of international significance.
Commercial projects are also being considered including the Gorgon Project on Barrow Island in Western Australia, where it is proposed to reinject carbon dioxide separated from natural gas, and the Monash Energy Project in Victoria which will store carbon dioxide from a brown coal-based coal to liquids project.
Through the Low Emissions Technology Demonstration Fund (LETDF) the Australian Government will provide funding to two projects involving power generation and potential long term geological storage of carbon:
- CS Energy - a demonstration oxy-fuel combustion plant with CCS in Queensland
- Fairview - power generation from coal seam methane and long term geological storage of CO2 in coal beds in Queensland.
Gorgon and the following two Victorian projects involving capture of CO2 have also been awarded funding under the LETDF: