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Capture and geological storage of carbon dioxide (CCS) has been recognised as one of a suite of greenhouse gas mitigation technologies required in order to reduce our impact on global climate change. The process involves capturing carbon dioxide from stationary emission sources such as power stations and large industrial complexes, transporting it by pipeline to a suitable storage site, and injecting it underground into a reservoir formation which satisfies the requirements for sustainable long term injection and storage (such as capacity, injectivity, and geological integrity).
Over the past ten years, geological storage of CO2 has progressed significantly in Australia. The first investigation into geological storage of CO2 in Australia was undertaken between 1999 and 2003 by the APCRC, a collaborative research effort involving Australian Government agencies, universities, and industry. As part of the APCRC's GEODISC project, a country-wide assessment of Australia's storage potential was completed including basin, regional and site scale assessments. The GEODISC project found that Australia had ample theoretical potential for geological storage of CO2.
The CO2CRC, successor to the APCRC, continues to explore Australia's CO2 storage potential with recently completed projects assessing the Wunger Ridge and Galilee Basins (Queensland), the Browse Basin (North West Shelf) and the Perth Basin (Western Australia). Several commercial and demonstration scale CCS projects are currently being implemented around Australia including, among others, Stanwell Corporation's ZeroGen Project and Chevron's Gorgon Project. Other projects include coal-to-liquids research, efficiency improvements in brown coal power stations, and research into reducing the costs of CO2 capture. The Australian Government is currently preparing areas in offshore Australian sedimentary basins for Acreage Release for geological storage of greenhouse gases. This will occur once the necessary legislation for geological storage of CO2 is in place. The Australian coal industry is also building a AU$1 billion fund through its Coal21 program to help develop cleaner fossil energy technologies.
Australia's commitment to progressing clean fossil energy and CCS both domestically and internationally has resulted in its participation in a number of international forums including the Asia Pacific Partnership on Clean Development and Climate, to which the Federal Government has committed AU$100 million, and the Carbon Sequestration Leadership Forum. In addition, Australia is likely to have the first national legislative framework for geological storage of CO2. The legislation is about to be introduced before Parliament and it is expected to be in place by 2009. A carbon trading scheme which is to be introduced by 2010 will influence the uptake of CCS and greenhouse gas mitigation in Australia.
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